Ronin Senshi Legends
by Dixxy Mouri
Summary: Anubis is brought back from the dead to train five female Ronins, called Ronin Senshi, to defend the Mortal Realm from Talpa's sister, Lady Trulpa. Trouble ensues. OBSOLETE but still COMPLETE.
1. Chapter One

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter One: Big Kitty

~

__

About two months before Talpa's first assault on Toyama

~

Boston is a great city on the East Coast of Massachusetts, USA. It's home to many museums, universities- including the famed Harvard- and historical events in American History, especially to the Revolution. There were several sports teams for the sports fan and Quincy Market for the shopper, the Museum of Fine Arts for the artists, and the Museum of Science with a little something for everyone. The harbor was a place where boats sailed in and out, many of them luxury cruise liners, and of course, the fishing industry.

Ria was fourteen years old and painfully close to fifteen. She wasn't a Boston native- she was originally from Virginia- but her parents had died shortly after she was born and she was placed in the care of her loving grandfather, who was the reason she'd already lived in eight states. Then he grew sick from a stroke and his sister, Sally, took them in. Ria's grandfather was dead now, but Ria and great aunt got along very well.

It was a sunny morning that Ria's life would change. The birds were singing as the perched in the old oak outside of the small apartment Ria and her great aunt lived in. She was up and in her room, brushing out her hair and humming along to the sounds of her radio.

"_Waiting for a star to fall. Carry your heart into my arms, that's where you belong, in my arms, baby yeah!_" it sang. (Note: "Waiting for a Star To Fall" is copyrighted to Boy Meets Girls sometime during the 1980's)

Ria bounced along to the music, seeming to enjoy herself. It was summer, meaning no school, and that suited her just fine. No school was GOOD. She did all right with grades- about a B average- but she didn't like sitting in the class room all day. The only classes she liked were art and gym, where she got to enjoy doing activities like running around and painting.

After finally deciding she was satisfied, Ria tromped into the kitchen, where Grammy Sally was making eggs and bacon. "Morning, sugar," said Sally. Sally was a small, somewhat old woman with her gray hair almost always in a tight bun. She had rosy cheeks and a sweet voice that always made Ria feel safe. Though the woman could surprise her with just about anything from a vulgar comment to the occasional elderly gentleman that Ria usually chased out.

"G'morning," said Ria sweetly. "How'd you sleep last night?" As of late the old woman had been having a slight case of insomnia.

Sally snorted. "Better than usual. I feel asleep halfway through Letterman. Whose idea was it to put a troupe of dancing pigs on, anyways?" 

Ria shrugged. "Between him and Leno, who knows?"

"True, my dear, very true," said Sally. "Well, what's on the menu today?"

"Actually, I was going to go the Charles River to watch the boats, wanna come?" asked Ria.

"Oh, not today, my back is killing me. Besides, I've recently discovered another mystery about your grandfather. That man was always leaving things out, especially with me," said Sally, shaking her head.

"What's that?" asked Ria. "Not anything having to do with the thirty-one bottles of deer urine he bought for that deer hunter's festival, is it?"

"A bank account. With the money your parents left you. Apparently he was saving it for an emergency, because it's untouched," said Sally. Then, her eyebrow cocked. "Thirty-one bottles of deer what?"

"Pee-pee. Tinkle. Wee-wee. Whiz. Urine. The yellow stuff that comes out of-"

"I know what you said!" said Sally. "But why?!"

"Hunters smear it on themselves to attract deer," said Ria. 

"That's. . . disgusting," said Sally. (Note: Deer hunters really do that. Deer pee is available at your local Wal-Mart) "What I was going to say was that I'm going to buy us a house to live in. I've got it picked out. A small cottage with woods surrounding it."

"There's a place like that in Boston?" asked Ria.

"Yup. You'll still be going to the same school, of course. It's only a few miles away from here. I think you'll love it," said Sally.

"Oh wow," said Ria.

"You run off and play now while I get lunch started."

~

Ria reached the bank of the Charles River and saw no one was boating that day. She blinked and sat down to look out at the water. The water of the Charles flowed smoothly that day, a slight breeze whipping at her long, red hair. The rather soft feeling of fur against her legs was like a warm stuff animal.

Ria paused. Then, she looked down and should would have screamed had her voice not suddenly choked. There, sitting at her feet- or rather on top of her feet- was a rather large orange and black-striped tiger. Ria's jaw began to rapidly move up and down as the tiger calmly looked up at her and rubbed her head up against her legs. "N. . . n. . . nice, nice kitty," she said.

"Purrrrrrrr. . ." the cat responded. Ria blinked. The tiger didn't seem to want to harm her, so why was it there?

"Um, could you let me up, Mr. Tiger?" asked Ria. The tiger did so, walking away from her, its tail in the air. Ria almost laughed. "Oh, you're a female. I'm sorry- what's this?" Ria looked down and saw a red marble sitting between her sneakers. She picked it up and as she held it up to the sunlight, a red kanji symbol flashed before her eyes.

The tiger straightened, looking proud. She growled softly.

"What's your name?" asked Ria. Softly, on the wind, she could hear the words Tiger Lily uttered. "Tiger Lily?" The cat nodded. "Well, uh, do you, uh, know what, um, this is?"

The tiger butter Ria in the side gently, as if saying the marble was hers. "Okay, okay! It's mine! Fine," she said. Ria stood up. "I need to go home. See you later!"

~

The next week, Ria and her aunt moved into the small house she'd mentioned. It really was that nice. Quiet and peaceful. It was white with green shutters, only one floor high. It wasn't anything special, but it was bigger than their apartment and Ria loved it. It was their third day there that Ria decided to mention the marble and the tiger. The two were outside on their small porch, overlooking a small rose garden the previous owner had left behind.

"Funny red marble? Tiger? My, my, aren't you a bit old to be making up that kind of thing?" said Sally.

"I'm serious!" said Ria. "I really did meet a tiger named Tiger Lily!"

"Purrrrrrrr. . ."

Sally froze, then looked over to see the tiger approaching them. "Tiger Lily!" said Ria. "This is my aunt, Sally. Sally, this is- Sally?"

Sally fainted.

~

After Sally got used to the fact that Tiger Lily meant her niece no harm and that the tiger was not going to be leaving, she let the cat stay. Tiger Lily was given rather large food and water dish, and Ria usually snuck her table scraps. Sometimes she slept in Ria's room. The tiger and the girl became inseparable. Luckily the cat knew that no following Ria to school meant no following Ria to school. That would have caused a scene.

One night, Ria and Tiger Lily were outside, looking up at the night sky. Ria in her pajamas, her arms around her rather large pet. "They're pretty, aren't they?" she said. Tiger Lily seemed to nod. She looked up and gazed in wonder at the strange, blue glowing light that was suddenly crossing the sky. "What the heck is that?"

Tiger Lily snorted.

"Yeah, probably just a meteor," said Ria. "Interesting, isn't it?"

Tiger Lily stood up, shook her head, and seemed to be laughing. Ria scratched her head. What was going on in that tiger's head?

Ria took out her marble, then, to her surprise, it began to glow and float. Ria's eyes widened.

_I am Wildfire of the Senshi._

"Huh?" asked Ria.

_I am your armor. Soon, you will be called to arms and you will need to lead the other four._

"I'm scared. SALLY!" screamed Ria, running back inside, Tiger Lily at her heels.

~

Author's Note: You all know what that blue light was. If not, that was Rowen from the first season. Remember, these stories take place before, during, and after the Ronin Warriors TV series. Italics at the beginning of the chapter have to do with about when a particular scene takes place, which include Consequences of Capture. You MAY wish to read that before continuing with this. Or, read this first and THEN go read CoC. Makes no difference- they're interchangeable. 


	2. Chapter Two

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy  
Chapter Two: Welcome to Boston, Sara

~

__

About one month before Talpa's first assault on Toyama 

~

Sara was fourteen years old. She had wavy, dark blue hair and large, curious pink eyes. The young girl had been born and raised in Hawaii. Her hobbies including surfing, swimming, sea shells collecting, and "talking" to the marine life. She loved the clear waters of the islands. In her mind, Hawaii was the only place TOO live.

But then her father's job had transferred him to Boston, so he brought his family of four with him to the city. Which, to put it bluntly, Sara didn't like. It was more congested than Hawaii. There were many tall buildings around, which would make seeing rainbows or the sky on a clear day harder. The only water around was the harbor, which was terribly icky and over fished. 

That was an odd thing about Sara. She could eat a burger, a hot dog, a slice of ham, a leg of chicken or a leg turkey and never have a problem, but the one meat she would gag to eat was fish. She hated to see fellow students in lunchrooms with tuna fish sandwiches, or kids buying fish sticks, or someone with a leftover haddock steak slapped between two pieces of white bread. Crabs, shrimp, and lobster were the same way.

"Oh, come now, Sara," said her mother. "Boston won't be so bad!"

"Says you," snapped Sara.

Her father fumed. "Sara, we all miss Honolulu, just understand that we're moving here for the benefit of our family financially-"

"Financially my butt! We were perfectly happy before you went back to your stupid college and got your stupid business degree and suddenly all you ever talk about is Wall Street!" said Sara, crossing her arms as she sulked in the back seat of the car.

Trevor, her old brother, snorted. "C'mon, Sara, now we can afford lots of cool stuff, and you'll have your own room," he said.

Emily, her little sister, shook her head. "She misses the ocean."

Mrs. Lewis laughed. "Our little Sara always did love the water, ever since she was a baby," she said. "Our little water baby!"

Sara grumbled. "I'm not little. I just have small bones."

"Sara, you're short," said Trevor, snorting.

"Trevor!" scolded Mr. Lewis.

Sara glared at her older brother. So, she was, short. Sara was only five feet tall while her peers were at least five six or taller. Sara tried everything to get taller. She drank about a half a gallon of milk a day. She tried to stretch herself using buckets of sand and Trevor's chin up bar, which was very high considering he was well over six feet tall. She even tried to talk to one of the old, Hawaiian wise men to find an herbal remedy, which instead made her sick with a stomach bug for a week. None the less, Sara remained short.

But she did find herself getting stronger, flexible, and athletic. Before, the only sports Sara was any good with were surfing and swimming. Now she was running track, doing gymnastics, and even began to consider getting into the martial arts. But her parents were nervous about her getting into fighting, so Sara had to settle for Trevor's video games and the arcade, but the adrenaline rush she received was incredible! Sara craved to fight, and started to shadow box and attempt flying kicks.

Her parents finally gave in and told her she could enroll in the school of her choice once they reached Boston. It was, after all, a big city, and if Sara knew martial arts, she wouldn't get mugged or raped or murdered! That, to Sara, was the only slightly appealing aspect of going to Boston- she could learn to fight.

The family finally pulled into a rather nice looking driveway infront of a nice house. It wasn't in the central city, but it was close to it, and it would be a central city school the three would attend. 

The family got out of their mini-van and saw the moving vans pulling up behind them. A large red-headed man with a mustache stepped out. "Sorry, ma'am, delay at the airport with unloading the moving stuff. One of the traffic controllers had a sudden nervous breakdown. It. . . wasn't pretty."

Mrs. Lewis sighed heavily. "Well, whatever, it isn't a problem. We'll just eat out today, that's all."

~

By the time they had eaten dinner, the movers had moved everything into the house and began to help the Lewis family move their furniture where they wanted it. Sara almost enjoyed ordering around the young man who was putting her things in order- they were cute. Finally, the job was done and Sara began to unload her clothes, books, and everything else she held dear. 

Once she had her clothes unloaded, she smiled at the room. The walls were painted pale blue, the rug a deep blue. Her comforter was a marbleized blue blanket of warmth. Sitting on her bed was her stuffed animals. Her bookshelf was arranged in a disorderly fashion (she'd work on alphabetizing it later) and everything else was perfect. Except for the large pile of clothing in the middle of the room- she'd organize them later, too. Sara then decided to investigate her closet, which she had yet to look at.

Sara was pleasantly surprised to find it was a large walk-in closet with lots of space. _Trevor will be jealous_, she thought hopefully. Sara clicked the light switch to her left, a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling acting as the light source. The floor was carpeted as well, soft and almost new. As soon looked around, she saw a glint in one corner. Sara blinked and went over to the strange glint. She knelt down and blinked to see a peculiar little blue marble. She picked it up and held it up to the light. A strange, Japanese kanji symbol flashed before her eyes. It caught her eyes. It made her feel safe, so she pocketed the tiny marble.

"Sara!"

"Coming, Mom!" yelled Sara, darting out of the closet. She flicked off the light, closed the door, and went downstairs.

Later that night, Sara lay staring up at the ceiling in her new room. _I feel half like I'm in a hotel and half like I'm safe at home, _she thought to herself. _Why am I getting so used to it so fast?_

Sara looked at her dresser to see the marble sitting on a small pillow she had for her old baby-teeth. Now it was serving the purpose of holding Sara's little marble. But what was it? Sara still didn't know exactly what it was, but she knew it wasn't an ordinary marble. Her parents couldn't see the weird symbol on the inside. Neither could her siblings. Something told Sara to find others with the strange marbles, that it would be important someday. That the world could depend on it.

_The world? Depend on me? Good one, Sara Lewis, your imagination has just run away with you! _thought the young Hawaiian. Sara sat up in bed and leaned up against the headboard. It was the middle of summer, so she had yet to worry about school. AND new friends. 

Sara swung her legs over the edge of her bed and looked at the marble. "You're making me loose sleep," she said.

In response, the marble glowed. Sara's eyes widened and she suddenly decided that hiding under the covers was a good idea. She peeked out to see the marble was floating over to her. "What are you?!" she said.

_I am the Torrent of the Senshi._

"It talked," said Sara. The way she said it was like as if she had just told her mother her younger sister was watching television.

_I am your armor. Soon, you will be called to arms. Find the other four. . ._

"Huh? Called to arms? Other four? What the heck are you talking about you crazy talking marble!?" asked Sara. The marble fell onto her bed. Sara stared at it, dumbfounded, and slowly put it back on her dresser.


	3. Chapter Three

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Three: The Magic of the Armors

__

~

About one month before Talpa's first assault on Toyama

~

Samantha Thomas was fourteen years old. She was tall, blonde, and had a thick Australian accent. Well, what other kind of accent would an Australian have? Sam, as she preferred to be called, loved to fight and practice with the martial arts (she was already a third degree black belt). But her real dream was to be a doctor, which her Aunt Ella (short for Eleanor) encouraged.

Ella meant more to Sam than she thought she could ever comprehend. When Sam was a small girl back in Sydney, her parents were always fighting. Her mother was a Japanese woman, her father a strong Australian man. One night, when Sam was five, her father took a baseball bat. Sam watched in horror as her father beat her mother senseless. Sam screamed, getting the attention of Ella, who had just pulled into the driveway to visit. Somehow, the shorter Australian woman was able to render her unconscious and pulled her dying sister-in-law and a hysterical Sam into her car.

Sam's mother died before they could reach the hospital.

The next week was absolutely horrendous. Her father was arrested, but before they could go to trial, he was killed during a prison riot. Therefore, Sam was an orphan. Ella took custody of her and moved her to Boston to get her away from the harsh memories. But the damage was done. Sam had a coolness towards men that her aunt couldn't fix.

Still, Sam was all right aside from that. She was perfectly social with females, but she did have trouble with men. This bothered her aunt, but there was nothing she could do but try to encourage her that a boy could be her friend, too. 

Sam and Ella lived in a quiet apartment. It had two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Everything the two could ever want or need. It wasn't much, but it was still their home and they both loved it.

Sam and Ella were engaged in one of their favorite pastimes: video games. Super Smash Brothers was their favorite video game, mainly because it involved fighting as cute things that didn't shed blood. Although Sam, as of late, had been taking Mortal Kombat out more and more.

"LINK! LINK! LINK!" the computerized crowd cheered. Sam groaned. Pikachu was kicking Link's but and who was the crowd cheering? The Hylian. Sam sent a few nasty thunder attacks at her aunt's character, taking out another man. The battlefield was Donkey Kong's field, where the two proceeded to fight each other.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," chanted the woman. Sam laughed as the crowd began cheering for her character. Sam looked on through her unusual hairstyle, which consisted of a fey lock over her left eye and a high tied pony tail. 

"And. . . Link is dead, Pikachu is the undefeated champion!" said Sam, throwing her hands up. 

"Next time, Sam, next time," said Ella.

"Yeah, yeah," said Sam, standing up. "You know the rules. The wager today was lunch."

"How'd about I take us out to lunch?" asked Ella. "How does Fanuel Hall and Quincy Market sound?"

"Oh! I like it!" said Sam. "Shopping and lunch!"

~

Quincy Market and Fanuel Hall are a notorious shopper's paradise in Boston. The streets of Quincy Market are reserved for pedestrians only, lined with memorials and carts selling everything from Boston Marathon merchandise to Cheers memorabilia. The shops ranged from Bath and Body Works to the Warner Brothers Studio store. There were also several restaurants (plus a food court) and off to one side of the market stood several tall, glass towers dedicated to the millions who lost their lives in the Holocaust. 

Sam and Ella headed to the food court, each chose what they wanted, and went outside to eat it and watch a pair of magicians perform their magic. They were called Betsy and Glinda's World of Wonder.

The magicians, to Sam's pleasure, were both female. "Now, for my next trick, I'll need a volunteer from the audience," said the magician known as Betsy. She looked over at Sam and her aunt. "Ah, the young lady with ponytail and fey lock."

Sam blinked and put down her food, then stood up and leapt over the dividing rope. The people cheered and Glinda walked up to Sam. She peered into her ear. "What is your name, my dear?"

"Sam," said Sam.

"Ah, I sense a foreign accent, where might you be from?" asked Betsy.

"Australia," said Sam. "What-"

"You, my dear, have quite an interesting array of things in your ear," said Glinda. She pulled out a chain of scarves, several pieces of candy, a small stuffed rabbit, and a strange, green marble. Glinda stared at the marble curiously, raising an eyebrow. She looked over at her assistant, showed her the marble, and took on a surprised look as the assistant didn't know what the marble was.

The crowd cheered. Sam laughed. She knew it must've come out of her sleeve or some hidden pocket. Glinda smiled at her and opened her palm, placing the candy and the marble into her hands. "A gift," she said. 

"Thanks!" said Sam.

"Thank you, my dear, you are free to sit down," said Betsy. Sam nodded, thanked the magician, and went back to her aunt. 

"That's great, Sam, I never get picked for anything like that!" said Ella.

Sam put the candy into her pocket and looked at the marble, which had caught her full attention, especially after Glinda had stared at in confusion, as if it weren't supposed to be there. An odd, oriental symbol flashed before her eyes. 

"Ella, you see that?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, can you believe that she pulled that boa constrictor out of that guy's mouth? That is disgusting!" said Ella.

"No, look at the marble, it has a pretty symbol in it," said Sam. Ella squinted at the marble for a while, then shook her head. "You can't see it?"

"My eyes are getting old," said Ella.

"But- never mind," said Sam. _That symbol was clear as day, how could she NOT see that? Something weird is going on, and something tells me this marble is just the start of it. But, what's it the start of?!_

"Sam, is something wrong?" asked Ella.

"I'm not sure, Ella, I just got a weird feeling, that's all, and I don't know what to make of it," said Sam. "I have a feeling that Glinda and Betsy didn't plan to put that marble in with what came out of my ear."

Ella's large, green eyes widened. "I'm sure that it's just something that's making you nervous for nothing. It's a marble. A very pretty one, but just a marble."

~

Later that night, Sam was up late, staring at the marble, which was on her bed sheets as she looked at it. "What are you?" she asked.  
Suddenly, the marble lifted into the air, glowing a bright green color. "Um, I'm withdrawing that question," said Sam, backing away from the glowing object. "I don't know what you are! I don't care!"

_I am Halo of the Senshi._

Sam's eyebrow went up. "Excuse me? Halo of the Senshi? What the heck's that, some kind of mutant Girl Scout Troop?" she asked. 

_I am your armor. You must find your four comrades. The world will be in danger soon, and you must defend it. . ._

"What do you mean I gotta defend the world?!" asked Sam. But the marble became dormant and fell back down onto her bed. "Hey! I asked you a question! Listen to me!!!!"

"Samantha!"

Sam looked up to see Ella staring at her oddly. "Oh, uh, the marble talked to me."

Ella cocked her eyebrow. "Tomorrow morning, I'm bringing you to Boston General."

"Why?"

"To get you an appointment for a catscan."


	4. Chapter Four

Ronin Senshi Legend

By Dixxy

Chapter Four: Lost and Found

~

__

About one month before Talpa's first assault on Toyama

~

Keisha Narrlobi was fifteen years old. She had been born in southern California until her father and his friends bought a million dollar lottery ticket. Since the Narrlobi family was poor, her father took his part of the money to move his family to the Boston area, where the price of living was cheaper and he and his wife could get better. Keisha was thirteen.

A year later, her parents were in a car crash. 

Luckily, their lives weren't taken, but their ability to walk was. Keisha and her brother, Evan, were crushed. Things changed drastically. They were moved closer to Boston General Hospital into a handicapped accessible neighborhood. Money was getting tight again. Things were looking bad, until her mother, who wrote in her spare time, got a book written about her life in a wheelchair and it became a best seller. 

Keisha loved her parents very much, her brother, too. Keisha's family was a close knit African American family with deep, chocolate brown skin and thick, beautiful black hair. In fact, Keisha was destined to be the first Ronin from her ethnic group. Keisha had light brown eyes, with a hint of gold and orange inlaid in them. She had a tall, thin body that made her the fastest girl in her school. She had even beat out older kids on the track team before. Running was her passion.

But Keisha had other interests as well.

First, she loved geology. She would go into nature stores and stare at the rocks and gems for what seemed like an eternity. Keisha was also getting into the martial arts like the previous girls. And she had an odd habit of collecting key chains. But the oddest thing about her was her strong sense of others around her.

If her brother had, say, flunked a test, and he came home happy as a clam saying his day was great, Keisha would know, even if they weren't at the same school. If a friend of her was feeling sad, Keisha could tell what she was feeling sad about and how it made her feel on the insides. Either way, she was very, very sensitive to other people's feelings. At times she even had visions, which very rarely happened. 

~

One day, shortly before school let out, Keisha's track and field group went up to Cape Cod, where the kids got to run along the beach or the narrow strips of road. Keisha hit a trail she'd found and set off on her own. She'd know how to get back. Keisha had an exceptional sense of direction.

Keisha loved the trail she was on. It was so quiet and peaceful, with lots of flowers and wildlife to look at. The dirt path wasn't the most stable ground, but Keisha, none the less, had a blast. She was an exceptionally advanced runner, and it didn't bother her in the least.

Keisha became lost in thought as she drew further and further away from the rest of the group. But she was so caught up in her running that she hardly even noticed how far she was getting.

Eventually, Keisha came apon an open field with a few boulders. She looked down at her watch. She had a few hours before she had to get back to the group. She had time to kill. So she sat down to think and reflect on her day.

And, eventually, fell asleep.

~

Keisha woke up sometime during the middle of the night. "Oh no! The bus!" she cried. "Oh good one, Keisha, look at what you've done THIS time." Keisha got up and began to panic, looking around. No one was in sight. Suddenly, Keisha felt her sense of direction seem to wither away. "Where am I, anyways?"

The thin girl curled up into a ball on top of the rock she'd slept on. "I'm SOOOO dead. When my parents ever get a hold of my neck- what's that?" she said. A shiny object caught Keisha's eye and she slowly crept over to it, not quite sure what it might be. When Keisha was squatting over the object, she saw it was an odd orange marble. "How weird," she said, holding it up to the moonlight. A weird, Japanese or Chinese symbol lit up. 

Keisha blinked, pocketing the odd marble. As she did, she suddenly saw a flashlight. "Keisha! Keisha, can you hear me? Are you hurt?!" a voice cried.

"Keisha! KEISHA!" yelled another voice. That voice she recognized as one of her fellow track members.

"I'm here! I'm fine! I fell asleep on a rock!" Keisha yelled. 

~

That night, her parents reprimanded her about not wandering off on a field trip, but they were glad she was all right and didn't ground her, which Keisha fully expected. Instead, she just went into her room to think for a while about what had happened. _I get lost without knowing it, fall asleep, wake up, loose my sense of direction, and find a freaky orange little marble. Then everything comes together and the cops find me, plus, I don't get in trouble. But why?_

Keisha looked down at the marble. "I'll go think on it tomorrow," she said, putting it on top of her dresser. With that, Keisha skinned out of her clothes, threw on a nightshirt, and crawled under the covers.

~

That night, Keisha had a vision in the form of a dream. First, she saw four girls, but all wore a strange, white and colored body suit type of armor. One wore red, one wore green, and the last two wore two different shades of blue. The girl in red was in the company of a tiger. Three of them looked about fifteen, the girl in the darker blue looking about sixteen.

Then, Keisha saw herself. She was about a year older with a white and orange body suit. The look in her eyes made the current Keisha seem to shiver in her dreams. _What is this dream?!_

The next thing she saw was a strangely pretty woman with long, white hair, red eyes, and a black dress. Keisha could feel a gut deep hatred for the woman already. She could feel evil dripping off of her as she grinned mechanically at her.

Suddenly, Keisha saw a man with white hair, a brown hat that resembled a rice bowl, and wearing blue and white robes. He carried a gold staff with six rings, an orbe, and "wings". "Keisha. . . you must not fear your destiny. . ."

_Destiny? What, what destiny?! _Keisha thought.

"Soon, you will be faced with a great challenge. To defend the Mortal World. . ."

~

"WAIT!"

Keisha found herself sitting straight up in bed, one hand stretched out. Her forehead felt warm and she clutched it. "Man, what's wrong with me?" she said. Keisha got up and went downstairs to the kitchen to get a drink of water and a few cookies. After finding a box of unopened vanilla wafers 

_What's happening to me? I've never had a vision like that before, _Keisha thought, taking a mouthful of water. _Am I going crazy? What is the point of that stupid marble?!_

Once she'd finished her snack, Keisha went back upstairs to her room. She sat down on her bed and then looked over to see something very strange.

Her marble began to glow.

"What in the world?" asked Keisha. The marble then began to float over towards her. "Eiyp."

_I am Hardrock of the Senshi._

"Hardrock of the Senshi. . ." said Keisha. "Am I gonna be some sort of a super hero because of you?"  
_Good to know at least one of the Senshi has her head on straight. Good call. You need to find the other four Senshi._

"Huh? How do I do that?" asked Keisha. With that, the ball fell into her lap. "Looks like I got my work cut out for me."


	5. Chapter Five

Ronin Senshi Legend

By Dixxy

Chapter Five: Symphony of the Heart

~

__

About one month before Talpa's first assault on Toyama

~

Rona was fifteen years old, and at that, the oldest Senshi. But she didn't know that. Rona had deep, pink hair, mocha skin, and large, purple eyes. She was of Latin decent and, like Keisha, the first of her culture to bear a Ronin armor. 

But her life wasn't all good. Her mother died when she was two of breast cancer, so it was just her and her father. Her father was very supportive of all of Rona's academics, athletics, and hobbies. Rona loved her father very dearly and didn't know what she'd do without her

Rona had a LOT of hobbies, passions, and interests. Her two "normal" hobbies, if you put in stereotyping, were music and cooking. Rona loved to listen to music, sing, and play the flute. She was also a whiz in the kitchen and could make very nice recipes, but her father was a good cook as well (he worked in a Mexican restaurant as head chef). 

Rona was also a notorious flirt at her school, having an average of three boyfriends a month. How she remained a virgin was a mystery to her so-called "friends", or, the people she normally ate lunch with. Rona wasn't very close with any of them and it never bothered her if one moved or left "the group". All they did was gossip, anyways. Not that Rona wasn't interested in the latest dirt, but after a while all that got boring. Who cared if so-and-so was gay or if so-and-so was pregnant? So this appears normal for most girls. Well, not the three boyfriend a month part but you get the idea. She was a well-rounded young woman.

Now for the "abnormal" stuff. One, Rona was a certified genius, but she preferred to stay in school with kids her own age and take college classes on the weekend to stimulate her. And back to her love for music, it was virtually in her blood. She was a distant cousin of THE Carlos Santana. Second, she was getting interested in archery and martial arts. Rona's archery was superb and she was looking to join a karate class soon. She just wasn't sure of the kind she wanted.

Not that it mattered to her what type. Rona just knew that she HAD to learn how to fight.

~

It was a peaceful night. Rona was on the roof of the townhouse she and her father lived in, practicing with her flute. She was playing "Greensleeves", one of her favorite tunes. The night was quiet, with the exception of Rona's flute, which a few people stopped to listen to. Rona's music was very beautiful.

Once her song was finished, she lowered the instrument and smiled to herself. She loved the night. She loved the stars, the moon, everything having to do with the sky. To her it was like another world that she longed to explore. Like she belonged there.

Rona looked up into the night, feeling peace and comfort. The stars were her friends. The moon, too. They were like extra friends to her. They always listened and never talked back. She would talk to them about her latest boyfriend or how her grades were doing (A+, A+, A+, A+, A+. . .), small talk. And it was something she absolutely adored. 

Rona considered herself content with life, most of the time, but she still felt as if something were missing. Like, she would be needed for something great. What was her destiny? It was a question she found herself asking of herself almost daily. What was her destiny? Did she have an important destiny? Would anyone even care?

She had no idea just how important it would be.

Suddenly, a twinkling caught Rona's eye. A blue one. Rona stood up and gazed at it. It was pretty, and it seemed to be. . . moving. For a moment she thought she was gazing at a shooting star. Then, Rona realized it was, indeed, heading for her, but she was so mesmerized, she didn't moved.

Finally, the glowing object stopped infront of her. She held her hands out and it dropped into her hands, then became dull. All it turned out to be was a beautifully crafted blue marble. Rona's eye's widened at the sight of it. In the moonlight, she saw a strange symbol flash before her eyes. It appeared to be Japanese or Chinese, and whatever it meant, it seemed to matter a great deal to the young Latin girl.

"Wow," she mouthed. With that, she realized how late it really was and went back inside.

~

The following day, she was out and about and at the mall at the Prudential Building, checking out guys. A typical activity for her. So there she was, standing cool in a small tank top and a pair of shorts, sipping an Orange Julius, trying to look devilishly attractive.

Today, the fish weren't biting, and Rona frowned. She was looking forward to meeting some new faces, since a lot of people tended to move in the summertime as opposed to the winter. She saw a few of her ex-boyfriends and waved to them casually. They waved back and smiled. One good thing about Rona was that only one out of every three ex-boyfriends she had refused to remain friends with her, or at least acquaintances. 

Rona frowned when she reached the end of her treat, so she tossed it and decided whether or not another one was a good idea. Her stomach growled, reminded her she hadn't had any lunch yet. It was either another Orange Julius or something out of the food court. The food court had food, but an Orange Julius was an Orange Julius, one of her all-time favorite treats. But the food court had such a wide variety of foods. Pizza, burgers, Chinese, wraps, baked potatoes, ice cream, oh, it made Rona's mouth water with anticipation.

The food court obviously won over. She'd get another Orange Julius later.

So after Rona had some Chinese food, she was back to loitering for cute boys. Deciding to kill some time, she took out a pack of gum from her back pocket and headed for the elevator. The nice thing about the Pru was that you could ride to the top and look out at the beautiful view Boston had. The skyline was gorgeous, and Rona loved going up there. If there were a lot of people up there, then it wasn't as nice, especially since at least one group was a family with small children, and those small children tended to run around, scream, or start asking dumb questions. Once, Rona had the pleasure of her braid being pulled. And there would sometimes be an old man or woman who would start to wobble away from her with their cane or walker, mumbling something about juvenile delinquents.

Once she was in the elevator, she began to chew on her gum, knowing it would help against her ears popping, which while it rarely happened to her, Rona didn't like it when it did. Chewing gum was what she did to prevent her ears from popping. Of course that's general knowledge but the author is having a hard time with this chapter and anything to keep the story flowing SOMEWHAT is good.

Anyways, Rona noticed no one was on the roof that day but her. She walked away from the attendant, who was half asleep anyways. She took a seat and looked out at the Boston skyline and began to search for typical stuff: her house, the library, school, that kind of stuff. She found everything all too easily and yawned. 

"Boring," she said. "I wish something interesting would happened for once." Rona curled up on her perch. It was quiet today up on the observation deck, and she liked that. No one around to bother her. It was so nice to just be able to look out and not have to worry about being bossed around by adults or annoyed by little brats.

Rona took out the small marble she'd gotten the previous night. "What are you, little ball?"

Suddenly, the ball began to glow and rise out of her hands. "Whoa," she managed to say.

_I am Strata of the Senshi._

"Come again?" asked Rona.

_Phew. Two of them are on the ball, not just one._

"Um, what are you talking about?"

_Never mind. You'll soon find out. You need to find four others._

"How do I do that?" asked Rona.

_They, too, will have armor orbes. You'll know them when you see them._

"But where do I-" the armor orbe- whatever that was- dropped back into her hands. Rona's eyes widened and she stood up to leave.


	6. Chapter Six

Ronin Senshi Legend

By Dixxy

Chapter Six: Coming Together

Once Rona got off the elevator, she decided that that was a time to begin looking for these other four people. She looked around the Pru. There was a whole mess of people: how was she EVER going to find anyone else with an armor orbe?! _Ugh. This could take a while. . ._

She started to walk and look around when she saw one of the girls from school walking around as well. Some black girl from Southern California- Keisha, was it? Keisha looked up and waved hello. Rona smiled back. That girl was a bit on the weird side. She was almost psychic, and you just knew she knew what you were thinking. It wasn't something Rona was overly crazy about. But then again, a blue marble that had fallen from the sky just spoke with her, so she was about ready to ask Keisha for advice, strange as it may be.

Strangely, Keisha walked over to her. "Hi, Rona," she said.

"Hi," said Rona. "What's up?" This was an almost awkward situation: Keisha and Rona weren't enemies or anything, but they weren't really friends and didn't hang out with each other. Mostly, Keisha hung around by herself as some sort of a loner.

"Nothing much. I'm actually looking for someone," said Keisha.

"Really?" asked Rona. "Who might that be?" She, too, was looking for someone. What if Keisha was one of the other. . . Ronin Senshi.

"Well. . . oh, you'd think I was crazy," she said.

"Everyone pretty much thinks you're a nut case, Keisha, what with all your psychic jazz," said Rona. "No offense or anything."

"Thank you," said Keisha, a look of slight indignity in her eyes. "I don't suppose you'd be able to help me anyways!"

Rona snorted. "Try me."

"Okay, I will," said Keisha. She dug into her pocket and pulled out an orange marble. "I found-"

Rona grabbed the hand that held the marble and looked it over. "You!?" she said.

Keisha looked up at Rona in confusion. "Huh?"

Rona pulled out her own armor orbe, showing it to the other girl. Keisha gasped, then smiled. "I think we can help each other, if you know what I mean."

~

Sara was nervous. She wasn't familiar with Boston yet, but she knew she had to start looking for the other four her little marble had told her about. Half of her thought she was crazy, but the other half insisted she go on. _I'm loosing it here. . ._

Trying to find something unusual, she eventually saw two girls a little older than she was, probably fifteen or sixteen, going towards a flight of stairs. One of the girls was black, the other Hispanic with pink hair. Sara got a little suspicious and decided to follow them.

Both of them seemed to be excited about something. And they seemed to be watching closely for people following them, so Sara was very quiet and quick to dart behind a corner. This was fun! But if she was caught by the girls or security, she might get in trouble, which wouldn't be good for her first summer in Boston.

Eventually they went in some sort of a door that led to a long hallway of offices. Sara watched as they went into one of the rooms, closing the door only part of the way. Sara snuck in after them and sat outside the door, listening in on their conversation.

"All right, Keisha, what did yours do?" asked the girl with pink hair.

The black girl, now called Keisha, straightened. "Well, it started to glow, then, it talked to me and said that it was called Hardrock of the Senshi," said Keisha.

The other girl nodded. "Mine called me Strata of the Senshi," she said. "So, looks like we have three more to find."

Nervously, Sara stood up. She knew what they were, now. Two of the people she was looking for. She opened the door slightly and stepped in, causing the other two to jump. "Make that two," she said.

"How long have you been down here?!" said the pink haired girl.

"I followed you down here. I had a gut feeling you two were somehow relevant to the 'other four' my marble told me to find, and it called itself Torrent of the Senshi," said Sara. "Uh, my name's Sara. Sara Lewis."

"I've never seen you around town before. I'm Rona Santana," said the pink haired girl. She held her hand out and smiled. Sara was too nervous to shake it.

"I'm Keisha Narrlobi," said Keisha. She smiled at Sara. "Don't be frightened, sweetie. I don't know how having a little kid is going to affect whatever it is we're supposed to be doing but-"

"I'm fourteen years old," Sara grumbled, getting aggravated that yet another person mistook her for someone several years younger than she actually was due to her height.

Keisha, seeing her mistake, put a hand to her mouth and laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's just. . . I'm sure you know."

"I do," said Sara, beginning to get grumpy.

Rona saw things beginning to get ugly and quickly changed the subject. "So, you're new in town. When did you get here and where are you from?" 

"I just moved here from Hawaii a little while ago," said Sara. "I'm sorry I-"

"Nah, that's okay," said Rona. "I follow people all the time. Okay, mostly guys I find cute, but, I probably had this coming anyways."

Sara blinked. Keisha laughed. "C'mon, let's go and see what we can do about finding the last two of our little group."

~

Sam decided that she was going to search for "her four comrades" and pray that whoever they were, they weren't nuts. She was starting to wonder if she was going crazy, like her aunt seemed to think. She'd just barely avoided getting the catscan as it was! If Ella found out she was snooping around Boston looking for other "crazy marble people", she'd be institutionalized for sure!

Sam's ears picked up the sound of a low growl. She cocked an eyebrow and decided to go and investigate. Whatever it was could be dangerous, or, if she was lucky, part of this stupid destiny she was following. Sam wasn't sure which one she wanted.

Slowly, Sam peeked around a tree to see she was looking onto a house. She was on some sort of secluded private property. The thing that had emitted the low growl was a rather large orange and black striped tiger. Sam gulped, then saw a girl around her age with red hair step out and pet the cat. Sam blinked. That was Ria Carmichael, a girl she knew from school. The tiger seemed to look in her direction. Ria looked up, too. 

"Come on out of the woods, whoever it is," said Ria. Slowly, Sam stepped out of the woods. Ria blinked in surprise. "Samantha Thomas?"

"Where did you get that tiger?" asked Sam, pointing at the large cat with some slight signs of fear.

"She found me one day and followed me home. Hey, it's the best security system you can have. Who's gonna rob a house with a guard tiger?" said Ria, smiling. The tiger purred up against Ria. She looked up to see Sam's frightened look. "Don't be afraid, she's just a big pussy cat."

"With big teeth," mumbled Sam. Ria coaxed the other girl over and gently pushed the cat down. She started to pet the tiger and gestured for Sam to as well. Nervously, Sam raised a hand and began to stroke the tiger's back. The tiger purred in response, resting her head on her paws. "What's her name?"

"Tiger Lily," said Ria. 

"Nice name, you pick it out?" asked Sam.

Ria half laughed. "I heard it on the breeze when I found her," she said. "I also found a weird marble at the same time."

"Weird marble?" said Sam. "What kind of a. . . weird marble?"

Ria's eyes lit up. "You have one, too, don't you?"

The Australian nodded. "I do," said Sam, pulling out hers. Ria pulled out a red one, and Sam saw a new symbol flash. "I can see the symbol in your ball."

"I can see the symbol in your ball. That means whatever these are, they're leading us down the same road," said Ria. "This'll prove to Sally I'm not crazy!"

"And maybe my aunt will stop rambling on about shrinks and getting a catscan," said Sam. "This is great!" She then got up and started to sing and dance. "I'm not insane! I'm insane! I'm-"

Ria stood up, holding her hands in attempt to calm Sam down. "Let's go inside and have some lemonade and discuss this," she said, leading Sam inside of a nearby house. Tiger Lily followed.

Once inside, Sam looked around to see a very homey house furnished in dull pinks and purples with lots of cream lace. You know, old lady stuff. "Ria, dear, who's your friend?" came the voice of an old woman. 

"This is Sam, an Australian native. She has the same kind of marble I do," said Ria.

An old woman stepped into view. She had her hair in a bun and wore a pink sweatshirt with a pair of jeans. Not what Sam expected from an old woman. She thought they were flowered dresses with aprons- that's how they always looked in TV commercials, after all. This woman looked as youthful and Ella, and at that moment, a bit stunned. "You've got to be kidding me."

"We're not, ma'am," said Sam. "You're Ria's grandmother?"

"Great Aunt Sally," said the old woman. "So my niece isn't going to the loony bin. Or at least not alone."

"Sally!" said Ria. "I really think this is the real deal. I mean, c'mon, how often does a tiger follow you home? A TIGER, Sally. Not a dog, not a cat, not a hobo, a-"

"I get the picture, Ria, but, I don't know," said Sally. "What if this thing IS for real? I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm sure my aunt feels the same way," said Sam.

Sally sat down at the kitchen table with them. "What about your mom and dad?" she asked. 

Sam gulped. "My father killed my mother and later died in a prison riot," said Sam.

"Oh," said Sally, suddenly growing quiet. "I, I didn't realize-"

"I didn't expect you to," said Sam. "It's not something I enjoy talking about. For once I actually want to talk about my crazy talking marble, because this is getting real creepy."

"I agree, but we still have three more of us to find," said Ria. 

Sam snorted. "Maybe two of them are already together and it takes us a month to find the last one," said Sam.

Ria laughed. "Sad to say, that might be the case, but, I mean, how do we find them?"

"Wait a sec," said Sam. "There's a girl a little older than us, Keisha Narrlobi. Dark skinned girl. People think she'd a loon because she's got these 'psychic' abilities. I'll bet she's one of us, or, she'll be willing to help."

"I've heard of her, we'll check it out tomorrow. Meet me at Quincy Market tomorrow, we'll start looking for her from there, although she might be able to find us, if you're right," said Ria. She held her hand out. "Agreed?"

Sam accepted it. "Agreed."


	7. Chapter Seven

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Seven: A Whole Unit

The following day, Keisha and Rona started showing Sara around Boston. They all agreed that whatever it was they were involved in, if it was anything, was important, and they had to find the other two. The three of them just KNEW it would be hard to do alone, especially where they only had three people. Showing Sara around Boston was the perfect cover-up to look for more Senshi. 

The three were in the food court at Quincy Market, Rona looking up impatiently at the book store above. Aside from being a flirt, musician, archer, chef, and genius, Rona also LOVED to read. Sara seemed to be a bit nervous. Her first friends were both nearly a year older than she was. She hoped that the other two were closer in age to her- she didn't WANT to be the baby of the group, they she had a feeling she was going to BE the baby of the group.

Keisha was happily munching away at her lunch when she lowered her fork. She closed her eyes, seeming to concentrate on something. "Keisha?" asked Sara.

"I sense the other two are near," she said quietly.

"Are you sure?" asked Rona, starting to stand up.

"Positive," said Keisha. "When I get a feeling like this, I know I'm not wrong. The last time I felt something this strong was the last time I ever saw my parents walk to the car."  
"Walk to the car?" asked Sara.

Rona pulled Sara close. "They're both in wheelchairs. Some sort of a car accident from what I've heard. I've seen them at school before." Sara made an "o" with her mouth and tried not to mention it again, though it didn't seem as if Keisha had even noticed the comment.

"Where are they?" asked Rona. 

"Outside of here, I think. One of the little stores, maybe."

"Then let's go to one of the little stores," said Rona impatiently. The girls packed up and booked out, hoping they wouldn't miss their comrades.

~

"Why are we here?" asked Ria, looking around the store filled with realistic stuffed animals, science experiments, and weird toys.

"Easy," said Sam. "I go in here all the time. A lot of stuff upstairs is on yoga and Zen and stuff like that. Oriental stuff, like the ones in these little balls. The symbols on the marbles could be a clue."

"Good thinking!" said Ria, clapping her hands. "But where do we find that kind of stuff?"

"I dunno," said Sam. "Let's try down here, then head upstairs." Before either could get down to business, they were soon sucked into the powerful world of brain teasers. Sam had one about a traffic jam and Ria was working on a triangular puzzle with butterflies. Both were getting frustrated.

"Stupid. . . little. . . car. . . I know!" said Sam, picking up the red car she needed to get out of the traffic jam. "Super Sam to the rescue flies the car out of traffic and off to Miami!"

Ria snorted with laughter, then frowned at her butterfly puzzle. She just couldn't get it to work. She looked over her shoulder and saw three girls enter the store. One of them was a black girl. Ria grabbed Sam's shirt and pointed.

"Is that Keisha?" she asked.

Sam squinted, then nodded. "No doubt about it. That's her, all right. The headband is a dead giveaway." Ria looked to see that the dark haired girl was, indeed, wearing a golden yellow headband with an odd looking symbol, sort of like an "H" with a dot over and under the line in the center. 

"Who are the other two?" she asked.  
"The Latin girl has to be Rona Santana, local super genius," said Sam. She gave Ria a look. "Don't you EVER get out? EVERYONE knows Rona."

"Well, yeah, but I'm just not up to date on other people as much as you seem to be," said Ria. "Is she a real ditz?"

"No, she really IS a super genius. Her IQ is 250 or something like that. I have no clue who their friend with the blue hair is, though," said Sam.

By that time, Keisha, Rona, and the blue haired girl were looking at the two. The three walked over, Keisha taking the lead. "Hi Sam," she said. "How are things going?"

"Hi, uh, Keisha," said Sam. She took in a deep breath. Ria was just smiling and waving cheerfully at the three newcomers, getting a shy smile from the shorter girl. Seeing that the red head was going to be of no use, it was up to HER to initiate the question. "I got a question. You're into weird, freaky stuff, right?"

Keisha nodded, then narrowed her eyebrows. "You and your friend didn't happen to happen apon weird marbles with oriental symbols inside, did ya?" she asked. 

"Wow, she really IS psychic!" said Ria.

"Nah, I found one myself," she said, holding up an orange marble. "Those two over there are the other two."

"Wow, that was easy," said Sam. 

Keisha laughed. "Yeah, we all thought it would take a while, too. Oh! This is Sara Lewis. She just moved here from Hawaii. She's one of us."

"Hawaii?" asked Ria. The small girl nodded. "What's it like?"

"A lot cleaner than it is here," she said. "You two are Ria and Sam?"

"Ria Carmichael and Samantha Thomas," said Sam. "Pleased to meet you- uh, should we go find someplace private to start discussing this?"

"Good idea," said Ria. "Who lives the closest to this place?"

"Actually, I think I do," said Sara, slowly raising her hand. "But I don't know if my parents will except house guests."

"Now's as good a time as ever to find out," said Rona.

~

Mrs. Lewis clucked her tongue at her daughter and her four new friends. "Of course you can, Sara! You're father will be so pleased to hear you've made some friends. Tell you what, take a bag of chips and some soda up to your room for you all!"

"Wow, is that what mom's are like?" asked Rona.

"Sort of," said Keisha. "My mom isn't that friendly, though."  
The five girls tromped upstairs, Sara in the lead. They walked into the room and looked around. It was a fairly clean room with stuffed animals on the bed and a table with a CD stack and small stereo. "Nice pad," said Ria, popping her soda open. "Okay, so, let's all compare notes."

"Colors," said Rona. "I've got a medium-dark blue. Keisha has orange. Sara has a light-aquamarine blue. You two?"  
"Green and red," said Sam. "Now, let's compare the symbols." The girls all took their orbes out and put them on Sara's bedspread, the light shinning five different symbols onto the wall. All five seemed to glisten.

_All five of the Ronin Senshi are united. . ._

"Huh?!" the girls said in unison.

_You are the five Ronin Senshi. Rona, Strata of the Senshi. Your powers will derive from the winds and song. Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi. Your powers will derive from the earth and the spirits of the earth. Sara, Torrent of the Senshi. Your powers will derive from the waters and the mysterious powers of the Nether Spirit Slayers. Samantha, Halo of the Senshi. Your powers will derive from light and electricity, as well as healing abilities. And Ria, Wildfire of the Senshi. Your powers will derive from fire. You are the one who shall lead the Ronin Senshi against the evils of the Dynasty and Lady Trulpa._

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"Dynasty? Lady Trulpa?"

"Please tell us!"

_Soon, you will be called to battle with the Dynasty. A messenger of the Ancient One will soon be sent to you to begin your training._

"Ancient One?"  
_Remain together. . . you will all become more aquatinted with your powers as time for the war draws near. . . you will be allowed to tell your loved ones of your quest after the messenger comes. . ._

The marbles stopped talking and stopped glowing. All five exchanged confused glances before Ria spoke up. "Looks like we have to wait for the messenger." All five girls agreed, realizing that whatever they were involved in was REAL.


	8. Chapter Eight

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Eight: A Painful Encounter

~

__

Right before Talpa began to torture Sage, Cye, and Kento during his second war. . .

~

Several weeks had passed for the girls. In time, they became fast friends. The first person they told of their encounters with the armor orbes was Sally, the only person they felt that they could get to believe them at that point. 

"Well, I'll believe Tiger Lily is a sign, and those marbles are rather odd, so we'll see what happens, but don't let your spirits down if nothing happens," she had told the girls.

The girls began to notice their physical abilities were beginning to drastically improve from what they had already been. Sara was becoming a much faster, sleeker, and quiet swimmer than she already was. Keisha was breaking her old records, some of which could have put some Olympians to shame. Rona's archery was becoming a string of bull's eyes and her flute songs became advanced and smooth. Sam was finding her martial arts studies getting easier and easier. The blonde Australian was making a habit of attending more advanced classes than she had been, a bit upset that her teachers weren't giving her the new material she craved fast enough. Ria found herself half able to understand what Tiger Lily seemed to be "saying". 

As of late, Keisha was getting edgy, though. Somehow, she felt something was wrong, but she couldn't stop whatever it was. "What do you think it is?" asked Sara one day. It was just her and Keisha at the Quincy Market food court, which was becoming a popular meeting place for the girls. 

"I dunno, I feel like whatever it is that I've felt is a long, long distance from here," said Keisha.

"Like where?"

"I dunno, it seems REALLY far away, like there's suffering in another world," said Keisha. "My soul feels like something almost linked to it is in some sort of suffering."

"Almost linked?" asked Sara.

Keisha nodded. "Yes. Like, I dunno, maybe there's more people involved? I mean, not know, but later on down the line?" she said. "Maybe I'm just. . . I'm probably just a little excited over this whole new, thing."

Sara smiled brightly. "Whatever it is, we were chosen because whatever chose us knows we can do the job right."

The older girl smiled. "I hope you're right, Sara." She began to absently move the pasta of her pasta salad around the plastic container that it had been given to her in. _But what is it that I'm feeling? Could it be, I dunno, some sort of a soul mate I'm destined to meet later on in life?_

"Keisha?" asked Sara.

"Huh?" asked Keisha, looking up. "Oh, sorry."

"I'm sorry, I just. . . I don't know, I'm just have excited over this, half scared out of my mind, you know?"

"Same here, Sara, same here."

~

__

The day Talpa tortures Sage, Cye, and Kento. . .

~

The girls were all gathered Ria's house, playing with Tiger Lily and gossiping. It seemed so normal for girls their age. Sam was helping Ria spar, Rona was practicing with her archery, and Sara and Keisha were reading up on ancient legends of mystical power, trying to find one on the Ronin Senshi.

Basically, none of them expected what was going to come. 

In a split second, so it seemed, Keisha, Sara, and Sam all froze, as if they were watching or waiting for something. "Sam?" asked Ria. 

"What happened?" asked Rona. That was when all three began to faintly glow in hues of green, orange, and pale blue. "Sally!"

Sally ran out and screamed to see the three girls glowing. "Dear God, what's happening to those poor girls!?"

"Something's wrong, and it has to do with the destiny!" said Ria. She pulled out her orbe. "Stop! Cease!"

"That won't work!" said Rona. 

Suddenly, all three were lifted off the ground and titled horizontally, which is when they snapped back to reality. "What in the world is going on?!" said Sam.

"Ah!" yelped Sara.

"This is bad," said Keisha.

That was when the full force of what was going to happen happened. A strange, almost indefinable lightening began to surround the girls. All three screamed in agony.

"Sara! Sam! KEISHA!" screamed Rona.

~

Keisha felt the pain flash through her body, but, at the same time, she could feel a huge, ripping affect in the pit of her stomach. She screamed even louder. It continued to tear away as Keisha's body was filled with a strange power. _Why do I know this is some sort of a freak accident!? ANCIENT! If you exist, HELP US!_

Suddenly, through all her pain, Keisha could feel the presence of another soul, but not one she knew. It wasn't Sara or Sam. It was. . . she couldn't tell. But whatever it was, it was in pain. Keisha felt sorry for whatever she felt. She could feel something for it, but Keisha wasn't sure why.

Then, it ended, and all three girls fell to the ground. Sara was in tears, Sam was half conscious, and Keisha was close to being breathless. Something told her that Sara and Sam hadn't felt what she'd felt, but she exactly what had happened.

Her soul had touched another.

Keisha wearily sat up with some help from Sally. Ria was bent over Sara, the youngest of their group crying into the redhead's shoulder and Rona was trying to revive Sam. "Keisha, my dear, are you all right?"

"I, I think so, but. . ." started Keisha. She stared up at the sky. _What just happened?_

"Ooo, my head," said Sam, her hand on her head as Rona helped her to her feet. Sara was up, her tears beginning to diminish. Keisha got up on her own will, continuing to look up at the sky.

"Keisha?" asked Rona. "Are you all right?"  
Keisha blinked. "I, I don't know."

~

That night, the girls all stayed at Ria's house. It was decided that they were going to have to tell their parents sooner or later about the orbes and the properties they were showing. This was getting serious, and the girls discussed every aspect they couch touch base with. What if they DID have to fight? What would happen if they couldn't handle it? What if one of them DIED!?

Soon, all the girls were asleep, except for Ria. She was outside with Tiger Lily, who looked worried. "You know something, don't you girl?" said Ria. Tiger Lily looked up at her and nudged her leg. Ria sat down next to her. "But you have faith in us. Don't ya?"

Tiger Lily continued to stare up at the sky. _White Blaze, I can feel that the Ronin Warriors are in danger. If they fail, we will have to send in five untrained Senshi. They'll surely perish. Please, don't let them die. . . _Tiger Lily thought to herself. She looked back up at her mistress and nudged her again. Ria sighed and rubbed her behind the ears.


	9. Chapter Nine

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Nine: Mike and Sue Lee

~

__

A few days before Trulpa kidnapped Sage, Cye, Kento, Kayura, and the Warlords. . .

~

Over a month since the strange encounter passed. Sara, Keisha, and Sam were seemingly all right. Things were just about back to normal for the girls- well, as normal as it was going to get for them, at least. They all knew that they wouldn't be normal girls ever again. Ever since the event with Sara, Keisha, and Sam, they just knew they weren't going crazy and that something was going to happen, they just weren't sure what.

However, in the meantime, they had another task at hand. Rona's father usually went to visit an old woman named Agatha on Wednesdays as a sort of volunteer work. Well, Rona's father was really sick, so he asked the girls to go and visit Agatha in his place ("She'll like meeting new people" he had said) sent them on bus to complete the task.

The task seemed laid out. Go in, chat for a while, then leave. Maybe do some cleaning or errands. None of the girls imagined that anything else would happen that visit.

The house, Rona's father told them, was usually VERY un-kept with lots of dead vines along the siding. The perimeter was lined with old, dead flowers and home to many unusual insects and bugs. Sometimes, the place even smelled. At one point it was an expensive mansion that had probably been well furnished. All five expected to find a large shack of a home that pretty much fit Rona's father's description.

What they found instead a pleasant surprise. 

The outside of the house was free of vines, a surprise to the girls. The flower beds were missing, dark potting soil replacing it. Rona took a whiff- no smell, but maybe it was on the inside. The girls exchanged looks, getting confused. 

The girls knocked on the door after discovering it locked. They heard footsteps and soon a voice answered, but not one of an old woman. "Who is it?" asked the voice. The voice was that of a young man.

"Uh, is this the residence on Agatha?" asked Ria.

"I'm afraid not anymore," said the voice as the door was opened. The girls saw that the new supposed owner of the house was a man who was probably just out of college. Her wore a blue shirt, khakis, and a pair of glasses balanced on the end of his nose. Blue eyes looked at them as his hand scratched a head with a teal mane. "Aunt Aggie's in a nursing home, now. I guess the people at Meals on Wheels didn't tell you that."

"Who are you?" said Rona. 

"I'm Michael Jones, Aggie's great nephew," said the young man. 

"Well, I'm the daughter of the guy who used to do her Meals on Wheels, but he was sick today and sent us," said Rona. "Why is she all of a sudden in a nursing home?"

"I came back a few days ago and Aggie had just gotten a flyer for an old folk's home with bingo every night and gourmet mashed vegetables. She couldn't resist and wanted to go there. I don't know why, but if it makes her happy, all right," he said. "Well, you came all this way, why don't you come inside and have something to eat? I've got chips and cookies."

The girls exchanged looks. Ria looked at Mike. "One moment please. Group huddle!" she called. The girls huddled up. "Well?"

"He's a stranger, and you aren't supposed to talk to strangers," said Sam. "Plus, he's a guy stranger. What if he's a perverted guy stranger?"

"Sam, the five of us are very expertise fighters. If he's a loon, we'll kick his butt," said Keisha. "Sides, I'm not getting negative vibes from him."

"Neither am I, but it could be a trap," said Rona. "I'd say to thank him for the offer, then leave."

"Well, what if he is a harmless guy?" said Sara. 

"What is he isn't? We can't take that chance, Rona and Sam are right," said Ria.

"Fine," said Keisha and Sara in unison. The girls broke their huddle. 

"Sorry, we just can't-"

More footsteps were soon heard. "Mikey! MIKE!"

"What was that?" asked Keisha, just as a short, purple haired girl came to the door. "Who's this?"

"This is the daughter of a friend of mine from college. She. . . met a sad end, but she wanted me to take care of her kid," said Mike. "This is Sue Lee."

"Hi!" said Sue Lee.

"Well, if he's taking care of a little kid, he can't be THAT dangerous, Sam, Rona," said Keisha.

Mike's eyes widened. "You girls think I'm a pervert? No way! I love kids!" he said. 

"I dunno, guys," said Sam.

Mike sighed heavily. "I understand if you don't trust me. See you around," he said, turning back inside. Sue Lee blinked at them, confused, and followed her legal guardian. With that, the girls left.

~

__

The day that Trulpa kidnapped the Warlords, Kayura, and Kento, Cye, and Sage

~

Later that week, Sara and Keisha decided to try and talk to Mike again. Keisha was still convinced he was a nice guy and that he was going to somehow end up connected to their destinies. So without letting Sam, Rona, and Ria in on their plans, the girls headed up for Mike's mansion.

After getting to the long driveway, they started in and found Mike and Sue Lee digging and planting flowers. "Hi!" said Sara.

Mike looked up. "Huh?" he said. "Oh, you're two of the girls from earlier this week."

"We just wanted to apologize for our friends being rude," said Keisha as the girls walked up. She looked at the flowers. "They're beautiful."

"Thanks," said Mike. "I had a minor in botany while I was in college."

"Can we help?" asked Sara.

"Sure, there's extra gloves and shovels in the shed out back. The more the merrier," said Mike.

~

After the girls returned, they began to chit-chat with Mike and Sue Lee. Sue Lee talked about how much she was looking forward to first grade and Mike told them about the different kinds of flowers he was planting.

Suddenly, Keisha felt a dark presence. "Keisha?" asked Sara.

"Something's wrong," said Keisha. She closed her eyes and gasped as she felt something suddenly leave her presence. She fell backward.

"Keisha!" said Sara.

"I'll go inside and get the first aid kit!" said Mike,

Keisha sat back up. "N, no need," she said. 

Sue Lee crawled over. "Keisha? Are you all right?"

"I think I'll be okay," she said.

"Does she have some kind of a condition?" asked Mike.

Sara and Keisha exchanged looks. "Actually, um, you wouldn't believe us if we told you," said Sara.

Mike snorted. "She have psychic powers or something?" he asked.

"Actually, yes," said Keisha. "I can sense things, and occasionally I see visions of the future."

Mike gulped. "You, you can? And you aren't kidding?"

"Nope," said Sara. 

Mike blew up at his bangs. "Maybe I have something upstairs that can help you out."  
~

"Wow, look at all this stuff!" said Sara. Mike had led Keisha and Sara upstairs into a computer room. Lined around the room were different sorts of artifacts from a large variety of cultures. Pendants, weapons, articles of clothing, all from a different part of the world. There were also several book shelves lined with book. In the center was a computer with a scanner, printer, and several devices that the girls didn't have names for.

Keisha blinked. "What IS all this stuff?"

"I'm a mythology major. These artifacts are all parts of different ancient legends from around the world. Right now I'm researching Japanese legends and something about a group called the Ronin Senshi."

Sara and Keisha froze. "What!?"


	10. Chapter Ten

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Ten: The Legend of the Ronin Senshi

"What are you girls talking about?" asked Mike.

"Can we see some more information on the Ronin Senshi?" asked Sara.

Mike scratched his head and blinked. "Uh, wha?"

"We have reason to believe we may be of the Ronin Senshi," said Keisha. 

Slowly, Mike turned to the girls, his face pale. "Are you joking?"  
"No."

"All right, well, how much do you know about the Senshi?" asked Mike.

"There are supposed to be five of them. Wildfire, Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata of the Senshi. All have armor orbes. Wildfire is the leader. There's a possibility that Wildfire is accompanied by a tiger," said Keisha.

Mike typed in a few things. "I found a paragraph on them. Wildfire, Halo, Torrent, Hardrock, and Strata were all mentioned, as well as four more, named after the four seasons. It wants a password, but I can't figure it out," he said.

"How many letters?" asked Sara.

"Six," said Mike.

"So, assuming that all twenty-six letters of the alphabet can be used plus the possibility of the digits zero through nine, that makes thirty six choices for each space, but that doesn't count dashes, spaces, periods, or other marks of quotation," said Sara.

"Well, try. . . Strata. That has six letters," said Sara.

Mike typed it in. "Access denied," he said.

"Um, Nether," said Sara. 

"Access denied."

"Spirit?" asked Keisha.

"Access denied."  
"Slayer?" asked Sara.

"Access denied."

"Healer," said Keisha.

"Access denied."

Sara sighed heavily. "Trulpa?"  
"Trulpa? How do you spell that?" asked Mike.

"Try T-R-U-L-P-A. That's the supposed name of the leader of the ones who the Senshi are supposed to fight," said Keisha.

"Access. . ." Mike paused, then grinned as he said, "granted!"

"All right! You would've never guessed that on your own!" said Keisha.

Mike turned to the girls. "Are your three friends also potential Senshi?"

"Yes, but we're here behind their backs," said Sara. "They don't trust you."

Mike laughed. "Well, let's see what we have here anyways," he said. "According this, about nine hundred years ago, a demon woman named Lady Trulpa attacked the world in what is now Japan. She was basically making a huge mess until an old man welding a golden staff with six rings accompanied by two tigers- the male a white tiger and the female an orange tiger- defeated her. All that remained was the bulk of the strange armor she wore, which the old man- known to most as the Ancient One-"

"Ancient One!" said Sara and Keisha. 

"Uh, yeah," said Mike. "He split the armor into nine smaller armors. The first four were made for the seasons, but were also given other properties, such as poison, darkness, illusions, and powerful natural disasters, like earthquakes. The last five were driven from the five major elements of his clan- fire, light, water, earth, and air. All nine were each given a virtue. Wildfire has Perfect Virtue, or Jin. Halo has Wisdom, or Chi. Torrent has Trust, or Shin. Hardrock has Justice, or Gi. Strata has Life, or Inochi. Spring has Loyalty, Autumn has Piety, Summer has Serenity, and Winter has Obedience. These armors were created to defeat Trulpa if she ever attacked again. Four hundred years later, the first bearers of these armors were born. However, four weak and power hungry women were chosen for the seasonal armors and joined Trulpa's forces. They supposedly surrendered their souls to become immortal. The five remaining armors were named the Ronin Senshi, since they refused a master or mistress."

"Ronin. . . that's a term that was used for a samurai who lost his daimyo to death, betrayal, or some other cause," said Sara. Keisha looked at her. "I did a report on samurai back in seventh grade."

"Well, the Senshi got their tails kicked, so the Ancient kept trying different kinds of bearers. Old wise women, healers, sages, witches, nothing seemed to work," said Mike.

"Are teenagers on the list?" said Sara.

"Nope," said Mike. "He didn't want to endanger young lives, but maybe your youth will give you the extra pull you need to defeat her. If you guys aren't imagining all this, but I don't think you are at this point."

"Well, is there anything else we could know?" asked Keisha. "You've been a HUGE help, thank you very much. The only other thing we'd need is how to activate the darn things," said Keisha. 

"The rest of it's coded, and a bunch of the excerpts of what I have are blacked out," said Mike, frowning. "But this is exciting! Anything you girls need to know I'll help with."

"Supposedly a messenger is going to be sent to help us train," said Sara. "But I'm sure you can still be a help."

Mike smiled. "Thank you. But this is a bit. . . unsettling. I don't like the idea of a magic-based war," he said.

"We don't either, but it has to be done," said Keisha. "Sara and I had better go. See you later."

"Later, girls. Come back anytime you need help with something. I know! I'll offer lodging for your messenger, okay?" he said. 

"Great!" said Sara. "Later!"

~

"You did WHAT!?" asked Ria.

"Mike has information on the Senshi," said Keisha. "I know I felt something GOOD about that guy."

"So he was telling the truth about Sue Lee?" said Rona.

Sam snorted and turned her head. 

"Admit it, Sam, you were wrong," said Sara. "It isn't a huge deal."

"I hate men," she said.

The girls froze. "What?"

"You can't trust them. Sure, NOW he's being nice and offering lodging for the messenger, but later he'll try to kill you, or worse," she said. "I've seen it for myself."

"Sam, just because your father was a butt nugget doesn't mean all men are! I mean, the Ancient was a guy and look what he did!" said Ria.

Sara nodded. "You need to learn how to trust men as well as women," she said.

"Yeah. I live with JUST my dad, you know that," said Rona.

"Ever wonder why she won't go over to your house, Rona?" said Keisha.

Rona made an "o" with her mouth. She turned to the younger blonde. "Well, all I can say is that you need to learn to respect men. In time, you WILL find someone who will respect you."

"Fat chance," said Sam, walking away from her friends.

"So, uh, HOW was her dad a, 'butt nugget', as you put it?" asked Sara.

Ria frowned. "He murdered her mother," said Ria. "That's why she lives with her aunt. She's an orphan like me."

"That's awful!" said Keisha. "Now she might NEVER trust another man again."

"I hope she will someday," said Rona. "Someday. . ."


	11. Chapter Eleven

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Eleven: The Messenger

_Ooo, my head. . . where am I?_

"I think he's waking up."

"Good, cause he's CUTE!"

"I wonder where he's from?"

"I wonder if he has any brothers."

_They speak English, but why am I in an English speaking country?! Wasn't I just- no, wait, this isn't making ANY sense at all!!! _"Wh, where am I?"

"Oh, he's awake!"

The person who had previously been unconscious sat up and looked around, then blinked. First of all, he noticed he was in a strange room filled with tall, orange metallic doors lined with benches. In this room where several oddly dressed women in strange, short and revealing dresses. The second thing he noticed was that he was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. 

"What in the name of the Ancient One am I doing here!?" he asked.

The girls blinked. "He's weird."

"Let's leave him and that stupid little golden stick alone."

"Good idea."

With that, the woman all left. The now REALLY confused man looked into the corner to see the Staff of the Ancient One. He stood up and walked over to it. "Something is SERIOUSLY wrong. . ."

~

Little more than a week passed since Keisha and Sara befriended Mike. Rona and Ria eventually came around to meet him and even SAM gave him a try. Soon, the group became friends. 

Yes, even Sam. Though the friendship had come after Sam gave Mike a very, uh, colorful, threat. Use your sick little imaginations to come up with something. I know you can do it.

Well, it just so happened the girls were baby-sitting Sue Lee when a news bulletin flashed. "Good evening, Boston! Tonight, the bank robber from last week's heist has yet to be apprehended, news in health care involving how a glass of orange juice a day can do MORE than fight cancer, and more on last night's astounding revelation from the mayor about his former wife. But first, the New England Patriot Cheerleaders discovered an unconscious young man in the woods earlier today. He had no identification or money but he was found near a rather odd looking golden staff."

"Bet it's a loon who doesn't know Halloween isn't until two weeks from now," said Sam with a snort.

One of the Patriot Girls took camera. "After he woke up he said something about some 'Ancient One'. I think he's a loon," she said.

"Ancient One!?" said the girls in unison.

Sue Lee gasped. "The messenger!"

The door opened and closed as Mike returned. "Hi girls, what's-"

"By Mike, we gotta go for Foxboro as soon as humanly possible, pay us later," said Ria.

"What?" asked Mike. 

"BYE!"

Mike blinked, then shook his head. "I'll never understand those girls. But they need to calm down."

"The messenger was found by the Patriot Girls," said Sue Lee.

"WHAT!? Hey, hey, girls! I'll give you a ride! You can't just WALK from here to Foxboro! AND two of you have to stay behind to watch Sue Lee! You can't just leave her here alone!"

"Fine," said Ria. "Rona, Sam, you two stay here. Everyone else? MOVE OUT!"

~

After a long night of walking, Anubis finally decided he wasn't going to find any information as to where he was. Sehkment had been the one who was able to READ English- Anubis could only speak it. He shook his head. People seemed to be almost afraid of the Staff, but why? It meant no harm to them. In fact, it had probably saved their lives several times over.

"Ancient One, why am I here?!" asked Anubis. "I should be dead! I know that! So what am I doing here!?"

"To lead the Senshi."

Anubis turned to see a vision of the Ancient One before him. "Ancient One?"

"Anubis, you have been sent to guide and teach the five Ronin Senshi about their armors," said Ancient One.

"The Ronin Senshi are in this strange country?" asked Anubis, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," said the Ancient. "They will find you soon. Whatever you do, DON'T mention to the Ronin Warriors to them until after they've had a complete war with Trulpa- you know why. I had to send you as my stand in. Befriend them, get to know them, and guide them as I have guided you and the Ronin Warriors."

"But how do I- Ancient?" asked Anubis, to find the Ancient was no longer anywhere to be seen. "Just great."

Anubis looked over to see a red car pull up beside the street he walked on. The car stopped and Anubis looked at it in wonderment. "It's so different from Mia's jeep." The doors to the car opened and out came three girls and a man a little older than his physical age. One of the girls, a red head, went right up to him.

"Hi," she said, waving cheerfully.

"Hello," he said politely. "May I ask what your business here is?"

"Are you the messenger the Ancient One sent to guide the Ronin Senshi?" asked the smallest of the girls, who had blue hair and large, pink eyes. 

"He is, I can feel it," said the third girl, who Anubis found VERY odd. She was tall, thin, and had black hair. But what surprised him was her oddly dark skin. It was a brown color- had hadn't even seen demons with that skin tone, and certainly no other humans like those he'd seen in Japan. _Perhaps she was stricken by some disease, or maybe she was in a bad fire. . _ Anubis reasoned_._

"I am," said Anubis. "I am called Anubis, a student of the Ancient One."

"I'm Ria, Wildfire of the Senshi," said the red head.

"Sara, Torrent of the Senshi," said the blue haired girl.

"Hi, I'm Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi, nice to meet you," said the odd girl.

"I'm Mike. I'm, just a friend," said the man. "I'm not a Senshi."

"Um, hello," asked Anubis. He stared at the Hardrock girl, Keisha. "Were you stricken with some sort of a disease? Your skin has been badly burnt."

Keisha blinked. "WHAT!?"  
"Uh, why do I get the feeling this is the first time you've seen an African American?" asked Sara, scratching her head.

Anubis gasped. "There's a whole race of people who look like that?! Fascinating! They didn't have anyone quite like her in Japan!" he said.

"That MIGHT explain it," Ria mumbled.

"Burnt!?" said Keisha. "BURNT!?"

Mike stared at Anubis oddly. "Um, haven't you seen pictures of people from other ethnic groups before?" he asked. "I know that their aren't a lot of Africans in Japan, if that's where your from and all, but. . ."

"No, no painter did anything like her," said Anubis. 

"Why do I have the feeling you've been living under a rock for a few years?" asked Sara, cocking her head to one side as she looked at him.

"No, in my four hundred something years I've just never come across a person of her race," said Anubis.

The girls stared at their messenger blankly. 

"He so meant forty. Forty years. Yes, yes, forty. NOT four hundred. That isn't possible!" said Ria.

"He said four-hundred!" said Sara, biting her lip. "HE SAID-"

Then, Keisha laughed lightly. "You're immortal or something, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," said Anubis. "I haven't aged for the greater portion of my life."

"I was gonna say you don't look your age and I was gonna ask what your secret was," said Mike. 

Anubis blinked. "I don't understand."

"Well, I take it you haven't spent most of the past hundred years or so in the modern world, have you?" said Ria.

"No, I've been a few times, but mostly to bars with some old, friends, of mine," said Anubis. "I, uh, wasn't always in the right crowd, so to speak."

"Oh, well you are now, right?" said Sara.

"Yes, I am," said Anubis.

"Well, these are three of the Senshi. The other two are baby-sitting a kid I took in for a friend of mine after she died. Let's head back to Boston and we'll get you situated," said Mike. 

"Thank you, you're much too kind," said Anubis, bowing respectfully. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twelve: McDonald's

~

Note: I owe SOME tribute to Ghost of the Dawn, who gave me a few ideas for this chapter. The part about the Ronald McDonald statue. You'll know it when you read it.

~

Anubis has been settled in with Mike and Sue Lee for about a week. Strangely, Sam trusted him quickly and after some explanations, prevented Anubis from mentioning Rona's ethnic group. They learned he wasn't racist, but most of his comrades and friends were Japanese, so he wasn't familiar with any other cultures.

First, the girls gave him an overview of the historic events of the last three hundred years. Then they took him to the mall, which he wasn't fond of. Anubis wasn't thrilled with the large amount of people in the building, and especially the Senshi playing dress-up with him. But he DID leave that mall one of the better dressed men in Boston for having a short budget. 

The next task was modern foods. Rona showed him pancakes, waffles, pizza, and pasta, foods he wasn't very familiar with. The only somewhat modern culinary item he was somewhat familiar with was the alcoholic beverage, including several beers and cocktails. While that was probably going to lead to a disaster sooner or later, Mike did have to admit he did make one hell of a good Mud Slide.

Now, when the girls thought of modern food, they knew that they had to introduce him to the concept of fast food. Meaning a disastrous trip to McDonald's.

~

Anubis walked into the McDonald's and looked around. People were eating sandwiches at tables, small children playing with colorful plastic toys. There was a large kitchen in the back where many people were preparing these sandwiches and long, yellow things that were placed in hot water, then taken out lightly browned. 

Keisha and Rona had decided to take Sue Lee and Anubis out for lunch at McDonald's. Sue Lee looked over to see that they had toys from Sailor Moon that did things like moved an arm to hit the enemy or had plastic hair to brush. For boys there were Gundam Wing toys.

Anubis looked to his left and saw a large, colorful statue of a strange made with a ghostly white face and bright red lips and cheeks. He wore a baggy yellow outfit and had large, red shoes. His hair was red and badly styled. Anubis smiled. "Ah, he must have been some sort of a great hero in this village for the people to erect a statue in his honor."

Sara had to keep down a laugh. "Uh, sure Anubis," said Keisha. 

"What did he do?" asked Anubis.

"I don't know, nor do I care, let's get out food," said Keisha.

"He must have saved this village from starvation or famine if they serve food here," said Anubis. 

Sara excused herself to the bathroom, her face bright red. Anubis looked as she ran into the bathroom. "Is she all right?" 

"She'll be fine," said Keisha. "Uh, just go sit down in the back and we'll talk. I'll just get you a Big Mac. Bring Sue Lee with you, okay?"

"All right," said Anubis, taking Sue Lee by the hand and brining her to the back. They found a table for four and sat down to wait for Sara and Keisha. In a few minutes, the girls came over. Sara handed Sue Lee a bag with Sailor Moon characters all over it while Sara sat down with a bag herself. Keisha gave a large box to Anubis and kept a similar large box to herself. 

Anubis picked up the box and bit the box.

"Anubis, you open UP the box and the food's inside," said Sara.

"Oh," said Anubis. He put the box down and opened it to find a sandwich inside. He picked it up and bit into it. "This is good!" he said after swallowing.

Sue Lee had left her cheeseburger half eaten and was not playing with her Sailor Mars toy, which came with a brush. Anubis looked at the odd plastic figurine. "This is Sailor Mars! MARS FIREBALL IGNITE!"

"It didn't do anything," said Anubis, raising an eyebrow. "Was it supposed to do something?"

Sara reached into her own Happy Meal bag and pulled out her packaged Sailor Mars toy. "Here, have my toy. I always end up giving mine to my little sister but she isn't here right now."

"Why do you always order Happy Meals, anyways?" asked Keisha, giving her friend a look.

"What?" asked Sara. "I don't eat that much."

"Then order a burger and fries," suggested Keisha. 

Sara nodded. She looked up to see Anubis was now investigating his French fries.

"What are these?" he asked, trying to hold one straight up. It fell over. "Ceremonial incense sticks? They seen a bit, droopy."

"Those are French fries. You eat them. If you want, you can dip them in ketchup," said Keisha, squirting some ketchup onto the box of her burger.

Anubis' eyes widened. "Eww! That looks like blood!"

"It's not blood, Anubis," said Sara, starting to get sick of their messenger at the trip to McDonald's. "You dip the fries in it- oh! Ketchup is made from tomatoes, which is why it's red. It's sort of like spaghetti sauce, only sweeter and a little thicker."

"Oh, okay," said Anubis. "I like spaghetti sauce." He happily began to dip his fries into the ketchup, play with his Sailor Mars toy, eat his burger, and drink his soda. Luckily he already understood the concepts of "straw" and "soda". Had he not. . . let's not think about that.

~

Finally, the meal was over, and they dumped the empty packages. Anubis stuffed the Sailor Mars toy into his jean pocket and went into the men's room to do some personal business while Sara, Keisha, and Sue Lee hung out by the entrance, waiting for Anubis. "Well, that wasn't TOO bad," said Keisha.

"Yeah, at least he didn't make a huge scene or something," said Sara. "Poor guy isn't used to this time period yet."

"He'll get used to it. Maybe we'll take him to a movie theatre later on," said Keisha.

"And hope he doesn't think the characters are real," said Sara. "Imagine what would happen if he saw Tom Cruise in two movies and wondered why some guy's twin brother was in another time or something."

Sara glanced over to see Anubis was walking over to the fire alarm. He seemed to be staring at it, then reached over to pull it. "ANUBIS! DON'T PULL THE-"

**_BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!_**

"Fire alarm," Sara said slowly, seeing as it was now much to late to stop Anubis from, you guessed it, making a huge scene. The restaurant was suddenly in mass chaos. Anubis was hiding under a table, shaking in fear. "Oh just GREAT."

"On second thought, we'd better do Blockbuster before we hit the movie theatre," said Keisha.

"First, we gotta bail him outta here before the cops come," said Sara.

"Good idea."

~

After getting home without any events, Sara and Keisha dropped Anubis and Sue Lee off at Mike's, then headed back to their homes. "I'm gonna go get an ice pack when I get home," said Keisha.

"I'm gonna take a few aspirin," said Sara.

"Maybe I'll do that, too," said Keisha. "No more McDonald's with Anubis?"  
"No more McDonald's with Anubis. Wonder what he'd do at Burger King?"  
"Let's not go there. PLEASE, let's NOT go there. They have the ball pit at Burger King."

"Right. That wouldn't be a good scene."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirteen: Adjusted

It had been a month since Anubis had awoken in the Patriot Girl's locker room and three weeks since the disaster at McDonald's. Sara and Keisha had forgiven him, and oddly, no one recalled the incident. The Staff might have played a part in that. 

Mike had been more to generous to him, getting him his own room. Of course the old mansion had plenty of space that could be used as rooms. He, Mike, and Sue Lee all had their own rooms, plus more rooms remained vacant in the basement and the second floor. Even the third floor had possible living space, had Mike not used it as storage space. Basically that house had become the number one housing facility for the Ronin Senshi if they needed it. Oh, they all still lived with their families and intended to continue doing so.

Anubis adjusted to the modern world quickly after the McDonald's fiasco. He now understood most of what went on, although there were still things he did not understand. He still didn't understand what the television show about the crowd of people shouting "Jerry! Jerry!" did for the good of the world or even why the girls enjoyed going to a "mall" to shop and enjoyed doing so for long periods of time.

Anubis' room was a place he enjoyed. It had a nice, soft bed spread and an oak dresser to hold his wardrobe in- which thanks to the Ronin Senshi was rather larger than he'd really liked it- and two hooks on the wall that held the Ancient's Staff. He even had a computer which Mike had hooked up to something called the Internet and a type of Internet called AOL. On this AOL thing, his name was MagicMan51. Magic Man came form his being a monk, 51 being his year of birth.

Okay, 1551, but still, it WAS his year of birth!

But best of all was the bay window, which Anubis liked to sit on at night and looked out at the stars. They were beautiful, and it always made him feel closer to the fellow bearers of his circle. Just knowing that they were all in the same world. Anubis wondered if the Ronin Warriors could sense him from all the way in Japan. He'd discovered he hadn't been dead for even three months when he'd been brought back, so the Ronins were probably back to their normal lives. 

Anubis frowned. He did miss them. Sure, the Senshi were similar, but there had always been a slight bond between him and the Ronins since he realized that the nine armors he was familiar with all came from Talpa. For some reason, he'd felt extremely worried when he'd learned that Talpa had captured Sage, Kento, and Cye. Anubis had wanted to get to know them, which he had somewhat done with Ryo and Rowen. He'd learned that Wildfire and Strata cared very deeply for their world and their friends, something he had never been able to comprehend before he swore his loyalty to the Ancient.

Still, sometime was missing. He couldn't sense them, but then again, he hadn't found any sign of the Armor of Spring on him. Somehow he felt like something, or someone, was blocking him from doing so.

Deciding he wanted to talk to someone, Anubis turned on his computer. Mike was away and Sue Lee was already in bed. Poor little girl was ill. She did remind him an awful lot of Yuli. Both of them were so young and naïve, he sincerely hoped that the poor girl wouldn't have to see what Yuli had. He didn't know how it would have affected her.

"Welcome!" said the computer.

"Hello!" said Anubis.

"You've got mail!"

"Thank you," said Anubis. Although Rona had explained the computer was an inanimate object, Anubis still thought he should be polite to it since it was polite to him. Most of the time. 

Anubis opened up his e-mail box. He groaned. Someone had once AGAIN tried to send him a subscription to Playboy, which he was getting aggravated with. Delete. A forwarded poem from Sara. Print. A cute picture Keisha had scanned and colored digitally. Save.

*Ding*

MusicLover63: What's up, Anubis?

Anubis smiled. Rona had sent him an Instant Message. He typed back to her.

****

MagicMan51: Nothing much, what are you doing up at this hour?

****

Music Lover86: Surfing the net.

****

MagicMan51: Find anything?

****

Music Lover86: Actually, I've been looking up ancient legends. I know you've told us a TON about Trulpa and the Evil Dynasty, but we still haven't been able to activate the armors.

****

MagicMan51: You will eventually. You can't just get the armor orbes and begin using your powers the very next day, you understand.

****

Music Lover86: But it's still weird knowing I have this power at my disposal and I can't use it. I've got to go. Another Romeo wanna-be is outside my window singing VERY badly. I'm gonna log off and throw a flower pot at him. See you later!

Anubis laughed. Rona was VERY popular with young men around her age. She needed to calm down before she got too big for her skirts. Someone like Rowen would easily calm her down. Too bad Rowen was in Japan!

But it would have to wait. Anubis had talked to the Ancient and discovered just why the girls couldn't find out about the Ronin Warriors. Something called a dependency would form. If they were to help in a battle, the Senshi would become VERY dependent apon the Ronin Warriors. But this was only during their first war. Once a second war began, if a second were to begin, then they'd be allowed to offer their assistance. 

Deciding he was going to see just HOW the Ronin Warriors were doing, he decided to investigate a website run by a Toyama newspaper. Anubis typed in a few tries and finally came apon a site. The Toyama Gazette. The site was in Japanese, but he could read both English and Japanese text. Rona also wanted to introduce him to Spanish. He didn't really want to, but it would be a good way to get to know her better. She was a nice girl, just a little. . . odd, at times. He prayed that he'd find something on them in the newspaper. Maybe one of them was on a sports team or something?

Anubis sighed. He really DID miss his friends. Trouble was, going back would be hard, since the Ronins, Mia, and Yuli all thought he was dead. It would make things very awkward for him, and besides, he had the Senshi to deal with first.

But he did want to know what the Ronins were doing. He saved the link to his Favorites list and was about to click on the "archives" link when-

"Goodbye!"

"Stupid computer," he said. "Why did you log me off!? I demand you log me back on!!"

No response.

Anubis grumbled, then shut off the computer. Then he decided he had better start planning lessons for the girls to practice their new skills, and maybe even gain subarmor. Either way, he had to stop procrastinating and get to work on training the girls. He uttered a quick spell and was in the Ancient's robes. He then sat down before the Staff and began to meditate.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Fourteen: Powers Awakened

~

__

Around Kento's sixteenth birthday

~

Note: I'm very well aware I have NONE of the birthday's right in this story. If you've read Consequences of Capture, here are the months I had Sage, Kento, and Cye celebrate their birthdays: Sage/November, Kento/December, and Cye/January. I know, I know, screwed up, but it was the only way I could get some of the stuff to work right, like the sixteenth birthday power boost.

__

~

Anubis stood in Mike's basement, waiting for the girls to appear. Today he was going to start getting down to business. Enough time had been wasted already. As it was their school took so long to get out. He didn't like it. But it was something that they had to do.

Although he would have preferred the outdoors, but it was winter, so a thick layer of snow covered the ground. That would make the training harder, so the basement would have to do. Luckily, it was a rather large basement, fit for an aerobics workout room, which would have to do. Anubis had moved all of the furniture into another room in the basement, giving the girls lots of room. He wasn't going to let them go near any of their magic abilities- well, Sam's healing abilities couldn't really do any harm to Mike's paneling- and DEFINITELY not any of the larger armors. Subarmor would do. Then he'd have to show them how to hide the subarmor under their clothing. 

"We're FREE!"

The student of the Ancient laughed heartily. Keisha always yelled that whenever school let out. The dark skinned girl darted down the stairs. "Neat!" she said. "What are we doing?"

"Hopefully, we can begin to awaken some of your fighting powers," said Anubis. "Though from what your parents and guardians have said, you're all very good with either traditional martial arts or the less traditional street fighting."

"It sure has," said Ria as she came down the stairs. "The others will be down in a minute. Sara and Rona both have to use the bathroom and Sam is talking with Sue Lee."

"Oh, all right," said Anubis. Rona and Sam came down the stairs, leaving only Sara to arrive. The girls began to chat about school and told Anubis a little about their day. Soon, Sara came downstairs and Anubis told them to sit on the floor.

Anubis picked up the Staff. "This is the Staff of the Ancient One. It is very powerful and has been able to stand up against Trulpa and many other Nether Realm demons. The Nether Realm is the world where Trulpa and the Dynasty reside in. Rona, please, no complex questions about how the dimensions can co-exist, it'll take hours to explain using the quickest, simples, most vague way. Now, the Ancient One, now deceased, created your armors and four others. Your armors draw powers from the natural elements of fire, light, water, earth, and air, but those are the base powers. Sara, for example, has a little control over ice and water vapor, and has a very strong defense and attack against Nether Spirits, which I'll explain at a later time. Any questions?"

Keisha raised her hand. "Say we defeat Trulpa. Will we have to defeat anything else coming out of the Nether Realm?"

Anubis nodded. "Excellent question, and yes, but chances are you'll be heading up against a minor lord with no army and it could quite possibly be just him or her. Trulpa is one of the few who hold an entire Dynasty. There are several Dynasties, actually, but you shouldn't have to worry about them. Most of those ones are sealed off or not strong enough to even consider an attack," he said. _And in the case of Talpa, he's either destroyed of the other Ronins will take care of him, but this isn't your concern._

Sara raised her hand. "About how big is Trulpa's Dynasty?"

"I have no idea, but it's very large and she does have many sorcerers, generals, the Dark Warladies, and very powerful Nether Spirits on her side, although she has been known to take unwilling servants who just happened to have a lot of power for some reason," he said. "Ah, before anyone asks about the Dark Warladies, they come later, and I wouldn't know enough about unwilling servants to say anything," said Anubis. "Now, you need to activate your subarmor, but first I would suggest changing into something small, like a bathing suit or gym clothes, just as long as you have your civilian clothes not on. All you need to have is a long sleeved shirt, some sort of bottoms, and your shoes."

"Why?" asked Sara.

"Simple. You know that 'Superman' television show you were all watching?" asked Anubis.

"Yes," said Rona.

"You know how he hides his outfit under his clothes?"

"Oh, I get it!" said Ria. "Anubis, turn around so we can change."

"All right," said Anubis, turning his back to the girls. Several minutes passed. The shuffling of clothes, giggles, and comments on underwear were made during those few minutes. Anubis amused himself with a calendar that had a collection of "This Day in History" events on it.

"Done!" announced Keisha. Anubis turned to see the girls were now in shorts, T-shirts, and bare feet. All had their outer clothes on the floor. "Now what?"

Anubis cleared his throat. "You take your armor orbes and concentrate. Try to concentrate on the armor orbe. It could take minutes, hours, who knows, but if it gets too late, we'll have to try again tomorrow. You should see what your armor looks like and then be able to transform into your subarmor."

"Armor? Subarmor?" asked Sara.

"Your powers derive from mystical armors as well as the elements. Subarmor, first of all, is what you wear under the armor, and in a way is a type of armor itself. The armor is, well, you'll see. Now concentrate," he said.

~

Keisha held out the marble and concentrated on it. She went over its size, shape, color, the funny symbol in the middle, everything, but nothing worked. _Sheesh, what part of the armor orbe do I need to concentrate on? _Keisha thought to herself. _Maybe if I think about it as a whole, or maybe as a part of me. That's it!_

Trying her new strategy, Keisha thought about her and the armor orbe becoming one. She concentrated on the soul of the armor and her own soul mixing together. She thought about the spirits of 

**__**

JUSTICE.

Huh? Suddenly, Keisha saw the image of a strange armor before her. It was orange with a few spots of brown. A long, bladed staff lay in its lap. It's helmet had two ivory horns, one considerably larger than the other. This was her armor. She'd done it! _I did it! I really did it!_

~

Anubis yawned, continuing to watch the girls. Suddenly, Keisha's eyes flew open. "Hardrock of the Senshi, TAO GI!" she cried. In a bright flash of orange, Keisha was suddenly in a bright orange and white subarmor. She looked down at herself, her eyes wide in interest. "Neat!" she said.

"You did it!" said Anubis. "Good going!"

"Wow, this IS for real!" said Keisha. "I feel, powerful!"

"You should, you have a very powerful armor at your disposal now," said Anubis. "You friends will catch up soon. I hope."

Keisha looked up at her teacher. "What can I do in this thing, anyways?"

The Ancient's student closed his eyes. "It will enhance your fighting ability, give you INCREDIBLE agility, and a better over-all ability to heal up quickly. The only armor different in that aspect is Sam's armor."

"Why?"

"Halo of the Senshi has the ability to heal mortal wounds. It has incredible healing abilities, you see," said Anubis.

"Strata of the Senshi, Tao INOCHI!"

Keisha looked over to see Rona emerge from a deep blue light in a dark blue and white subarmor identical to her own. "Rona!" she said. 

"I did it!" she said. "Heh, you look awesome!"

"Thanks!"

"It really brings out your figure."

"Really?"

Anubis slapped his forehead. _Well, at least we've made SOME progress. . ._


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifteen: The Next Test

Once the remaining three had awakened their subarmor, Anubis now had to get them to awaken their next level: their minor weapons. Ria needed to find an armlet lined with five throwing stars. Sara needed to locate a dagger. Sam needed to hunt down a boomerang. Keisha needed to get a pair of nunchaku. Rona had to find a special, magical flute. 

Yes, she got ripped off in the secondary weapons department.

"Well, how do we find them?" asked Ria. The deep red and white subarmor made Ria look somewhat powerful, much like the leader Anubis hoped she would be. 

Anubis sighed heavily. "You all need to pass some sort of a test, trouble is, there isn't anything I've discovered on what these tests are," he said. "I'm going to go digging into my information again."

"Information?" asked Sara. Her large, pink eyes made her look so innocent. It pained Anubis to think it may be ripped from her. 

Anubis remembered the naiveté in Cye of the Torrent's eyes before the war began, and how they were so quickly replaced by damaged, war torn ones. Anubis cringed at the thought. He hadn't really gotten a chance to know Cye, or even the other Ronins, very well before he'd died. Anubis had learned very minute information about Ryo and Rowen during the short time they were able to talk, but not the other three. 

But right now he had the Senshi to deal with. Maybe showing them his OWN tricks would brighten them up. "Even I have a transformation, so to speak," said Anubis. He took the Staff, concentrated, and in a golden hue, was transformed into the Ancient's Robes. The girls all stared in wonderment. "These are the traditional robes of the Ancient One and the traditional rice bowl hat. This bag here has a few scrolls with information on the different armors. Thing is, there's a LOT of them." To prove his point, Anubis took off the bag, then dumped it's contents on the floor. The pile of scrolls, all neatly rolled up, took up about a cubic yard of space and then some. All from the little bag.

"That'll take a LONG time to go over," said Ria. "How did all that FIT in there?"

"I don't know," said Anubis. "Maybe one of the worm holes Rona was rambling on about the other day has something to do with it."

"Let's all just get going and try to figure out what to do on our own," said Ria. "Do we take these things off?"

"No, you put your clothes on over them," said Anubis. "You can hide some of the subarmor, like on your hands."

The girls pulled their civilian clothes on over their subarmor. Each concentrated, and their hands soon became their normal pink, tan, or brown colors. "Neat!" said Keisha.

"Isn't it?" said Anubis. _I remember when myself and the other Warlords learned that trick, _he mused. _To think I used to serve an evil like the one they're about to face. God be with them._

"We're gonna go head to the Pru and discuss this over a round of Orange Julius'," said Ria.

The Ancient's student widened his eyes. He had recently been introduced to the concept of mall smoothies and had become something of an Orange Julius addict. "Orange Julius?! Hey, wait for me!" said Anubis. "I love those!"

"But you need to do research," said Keisha.

Anubis pouted. "I'll go pick one up and then come back here with three of them, okay?" he said. "Please?"

"All right, you can come, but then you have to come back here and do the research, got it?" said Ria, seeing that there was no point in arguing the point with Anubis any further.

"Yay!"

~

After watching Anubis happily walked off with his carton of four (extra large) Orange Julius drinks, the girls sat down in the food court. "So, anyone have any ideas?" asked Ria.

"Meditate?" asked Sara. "Maybe the tests will come to us through meditation?"

The girls exchanged looks. "I dunno," said Sam. "That seems almost too, easy. Besides, that what we did for the first of our powers."

"Maybe we need to learn how to use some of our powers from the subarmor," said Ria."

The others looked at her. "What do you mean, Ria?" asked Keisha. "Please, enlighten us on what's going through that mind of yours."

"Like, maybe I'm resistant to heat, so maybe I can, I dunno, go swimming in a volcano?" said Ria.

"You might be onto something. We'll go ask Anubis late," said Rona. "Right now let's try and expand on Ria's theory. Okay, Ria's heat resistant. Sara?"  
"My element is water," she said. "Oh yay, I'm water-proof."

Keisha shook her head. "I bet you can BREATHE underwater," she said.

Sara blinked. "I don't have gills," she said.

"This is why we're going to ask Anubis. We don't want Ria to have Super Tan 5000 and you to drown," said Rona. "Okay, I'm air. Hey, maybe I can fly!"

"Yeah, go jump off the Pru later, why don't cha?" said Sam.

"Another reason we're asking Anubis. Rona could be a slice of Spanish Street Pizza," said Keisha. "That leaves Light, Sam, and me, Earth."

"Well, it looks like its abilities we're working with. Rona could fly, Sara could breathe underwater. Maybe I melt stuff instead. They're all elemental, or basic powers," said Ria. "So. . . Sam could control lighting, maybe."

"Then what the heck can I do? Throw rocks?" said Keisha, her eyes widening.

"That's why we're going to go harass Anubis right now," said Rona, picking up her empty Orange Julius cup and throwing it away."

~

The girls entered Anubis' room to find the red haired monk typing away at his computer. The scrolls from earlier were in two piles. One was on his desk. "Hi, Anubis," said Ria.

"Hello girls," he said. "I haven't found anything yet. I'm transferring all these into a Word Document. If computers had been around in the days of the Ancient's Clan, the Ancient would have had a MUCH easier time. I like these things."

"Um, we have an idea on how it can work," said Ria. 

"What?" asked Anubis, turning to face the girls. "Have a seat." The girls quickly arranged themselves on several chairs and the bed. "So, what's your idea?"

"We all have some powers that are pretty basic and might have something relevant to do with our elements, right?" asked Sara.

"Right," said Anubis. "Oh! I get it! But be absolutely careful with some of those powers!"

"How do we do them? What ARE they?" asked Ria.

"Ria, you can burn or even melt some things. Practice with ice," he said. "Or snow. You can get your great aunt's driveway done in record timing."

"I can breathe underwater, right?" asked Sara.

Anubis nodded. "Yes, but that takes concentration and it's something you need to be sure you've had awoken. Water vapor is a good start."

"Looks like I'll be going to the steam room at the gym," said Sara.

"Rona, you can fly, but don't go jumping off the Prudential building yet," said Anubis.

"I'll go to Chicago and go to the Sears Towers instead," said Rona.

"Cute. Step ladder for you, wear a bike helmet," he said. Anubis snorted, rolling his eyes. "The Sears Towers, give me a break."

"We could figure out ours," said Sam. 

"Well," said Anubis, "I think you can use super strength. You'll probably be going with Sara to that gym she mentioned. Your test will be passed when you can lift something that even major Olympians couldn't do, like a boulder or something."

"What about me?" asked Keisha. "What can I do?"

"I don't know," said Anubis. "I have two god guesses. One, expand your psychic senses. Two, see if you're the fast one."

Keisha blinked. "As in running?"

"Some Ronins can get close to the sound barrier," said Anubis.

"Anyone break it?" asked Keisha.

Anubis shrugged. Keisha grinned. "You think you can?"  
"She's the running nut," said Sara.

"All right, get to work, ladies," said Anubis. As the girls were about to leave, his eyes widened. "WAIT!"  
"What?" they asked, all stopping suddenly to turn around and look at Anubis. 

"Sara, don't try breathing underwater in a pool filled with a heavily concentrated chemical makeup. Salt is okay but chlorine. . ." said Anubis.

"I'll remember that," said Sara, smiling as she turned to leave. "Good night, Anubis."

"Good night, girls."


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Sixteen: The Gym

Sam smiled to herself as she walked into the weight room at the gym. Mostly a bunch of guys on steroids to make any muscles they had look big. Those who weren't n steroid seemed to concentrate on their upper bodies and were left with, to put it bluntly, chicken legs. _Probably can't lift anything higher than one twenty,_ Sam thought of the men. "Where do I start?" Sam looked around. There was so much equipment, she wasn't sure what half of it was.

"Hey, honey," said a husky, yet female, voice. Sam looked up to see a husky middle aged woman in purple sweats. "First time body building?"

"Uh, yes," said Sam. 

"I'll show you how to work EVERYTHING in this gym. The name's Mandy," she said.

"I'm Sam, Miss Mandy," she said. 

Mandy clucked her tongue. "Where you from? You got an interesting foreign accent, there."

"Australia, native of Sydney," said Sam.

"Oh yeah, the place with the big sea shell opera house, what's it called?"

"The Sydney Opera House and it's supposed to be a ship," said Sam.

"Ship, sea shells, same difference, c'mon," said Mandy. 

~

Sara took in deep, heavy breath, letting them out slowly as she sat in the steam room. She could still feel a different in breathing the normal air in the locker room and in the steam room. Was she waiting for the steam room to seem like normal? Sara kicked her left leg back and forth from the bench she sat on, looking around as she waited for something to happen. No one else was in the steam room, just her, so she had it to herself.

_How long is it going to take before I know when I'm ready to try water itself?_ Sara groaned heavily and continued to breathe. She paused and took in a few breaths. She could still TASTE the steam, but the consistency was like the air outside. Not as thick. Sara grinned to herself. She was ready for something else!

Quickly, Sara stood up and darted for the door, dropping her towel in the process. She scooped it up and headed for her locker.

~

Sam almost ENJOYED the surprised look on Mandy's face as she got bored at her first machine. Eighty pounds was WAY to light. It was even funnier when she paled as Sam continued to add more and more weight to the machine. Finally she had the machine at its max. "This is good," she said, and began to do the exercise.

"Are you SURE you haven't done this before, sweet cheeks?" asked Mandy.

"I'm sure, Mandy," she said once she was at the fourth machine. Once again she put it up to its full weight potential. _I should convince Sally to buy my some dumbbells for my birthday._ "You sure these are real weight?"  
"I'm positive. Kid, you're some kind of phenomena!" said Mandy.

Sara ran in, dressed and gym bag over her shoulder. "Sara, you can't run in the equipment room," said Sam. "You can get hurt."

"I did it!!" she said. 

"Huh?" asked Sam. "Oh, that's good. Where are you going now?"  
"Um, home."

"Why?" asked the blonde. 

Sara grinned. "I'm ready for the water."

Sam just nodded. "Okay, whatever, see you later," she said. Sara walked off.

"So, what's the next machine?"  
~

Sara looked down at the now full bathtub. "Well, here goes nothing," she said, dunking her head into the water. She opened her eyes, surprised she could clearly see. Her eyes couldn't feel the water at all. Feeling brave, she took in a deep breath. Then slowly, let it out, and took in another. Sara quickened her breathing, slowed them down, and was grinning like a mad woman.

She'd done it! She could breathe underwater! Sara pulled her head out of the water and turned around to see her brother looking at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.  
"Breathing underwater. Oh! Trevor, I got the first of my powers!" she lifted her shirt and showed him her subarmor covered stomach.

"Whoa, you looked like a robot," he said.

Sara stuck her tongue out. "Now I can breath underwater and- hey, I'm supposed to have a dagger now!" she said. 

"Dagger? Robots? Breathing underwater? Dude, my little sister IS Super Girl!"

"Sara, Torrent of the Senshi," corrected Sara. "Maybe it's on my subarmor somewhere. She took her civilian clothes off, leaving her in her subarmor. On the outside of her right leg was an ornately carved dagger. She drew it out of its simple sheath and looked at it.

"Let's look at this thing over the dining room table, Sara," he said. "That thing is cool!" It sure was. The dagger's blade was a soft silver color, the hilt a light blue. The hilt was decorated on either side with a black and white ying-yang that lacked the dots. The whole thing was about the length of her calf, a deadly blade, no doubt.

"This thing must have a ton of power!" said Sara.

"Well, don't show it to Mom. She'll faint. Heck, she'll faint when she sees you in THAT. Uh, Sara?" said Trevor, looking curious.

"Yeah?" asked Sara.

"I don't see any flaps."

"So?"

"How do you plan on answering nature's call in that?"

~

Sam laughed to herself. Once she beat all the steroid boys in arm wrestling contests, she felt pretty good about herself. Like she could do ANYTHING. 

"In order to get my boomerang, I gotta prove my strength. I'll go to the woods and go look for a boulder or something-"

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"The heck is that?" Sam wondered, deciding to investigate. 

She gasped at the sight. A motor home had toppled over on its side. An older woman was screaming. "What happened?"  
"My puppy's in there! The side with the door is on the ground! I can't get to my puppy!" she wailed. 

Sam decided to test out her strength. "Let me see if I can move it back on it's right side," she said. The old woman just stared at her oddly. Sam smiled and cracked her knuckles. The woman's eyes widened and she stepped back.

"Well, I suppose. . ." she said.

Sam closed her eyes, concentrated, and pushed. At first, nothing. Sam stopped, took a breath, and tried again. The motor home tipped back on it's right side. 

The woman stood there in awe as Sam smiled. She tested the door and went inside to find a golden retriever pup whimpering at her. Sam smiled and picked up the dog, bringing him out to her owner. The old woman snapped out of her trance and began to make a fuss over the dog.

"Oh, you're all right! Thank you, young woman, how can I ever repay you?" she said, looking at Sam with happy, brown eyes. 

"Oh, nothing," said Sam. "Unless you happen to have a boomerang in there of some sort."

"A boomerang?" she asked. "I dunno, my husband is always putting in weird things, let's go see. If not you're at least getting a pack of gum!"

The old woman led Sam inside the motor home and there, right where the puppy had been, was the boomerang Sam knew she needed. It was at least three and a half feet long with a strange, black and yellow symbol in the shape of a lightening bolt at the corner. "Well, I didn't see THAT this morning," she said. "It's yours, kid."

"Thank you, ma'am!" said Sam.

"But you saved my dog!" said the woman. "We're even!"

"I really needed this, thank you ever so much!" said Sam. "Bye!"

"Strange girl, but she's sure been drinking her milk. What are they feeding these kids these days?" 

~

Author's Notes

I hope everyone on FF.Net likes this so-far. This is a revision of the original edition, which could be found on my website up until a few days ago- I'm going to re-post this revision soon.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Ronin Senshi Legend

By Dixxy

Chapter Seventeen: Learning to Fly

Rona thought that if she'd be learning to fly she'd feel excited and anxious to take to the skies. She thought she wouldn't be able to describe the flow of adrenaline pumping through her veins and she flew. There should have been some sort of an excitement she'd get no where else.

Instead, she felt incredibly stupid as she stood atop her father's step ladder on the roof of their apartment building.

"Well, it's a START," said Mr. Santana. Mr. Santana was a very short, very balding man, but he was one of the nicer people in Rona's neighborhood. Also one of the only ones with values greater than that of peach pit- the smell of marijuana or the sounds of bloody-murder type screams were very "normal" in that neighborhood, which is why Mr. Santana was looking to move out of that neighborhood as soon as possible. He tried to raise Rona to be honest, gentle, and caring, but, well, it looked like he'd have to raise her to be that AND a warrior. He didn't like that, but if destiny was calling her, he'd be behind her every step of the way.

"But I feel like a moron," she said as she jumped off what felt like the millionth time she'd jumped off that stupid step stool and nothing had happened.

"It'll happen," he said. "Just think, you'll get some magic hoo-dingy flute if you do."

"You watched that Simpsons marathon last night, didn't you?" said Rona, raising an eyebrow at her father.

Mr. Santana blinked. "Flanders doesn't really say 'hoo-dingy'," he said.

"Never mind," said Rona, jumping off the step stool again. "Maybe I need something bigger."

"Like what?" asked her father. "I can get some really big pieces of wood to make it higher."

"That sounds good," she said.

~

__

Later that evening. . . 

~

Rona grumbled miserably to herself. She had been trying all day, and she still hadn't flown. Her father had long since gone to bed, but she was still up on the roof, trying to figure out where she went wrong. That was normal anyways. Rona was a night owl, but she rarely needed a lot of sleep. 

Rona looked over on the next building over to see a small yellow puppy was sniffing around. Shrugging and remembering she wore subarmor, Rona leapt over to the other roof to go and look at the dog. When she landed safely on the other side, she was stunned to say the least but content knowing she could use some of her powers.

"Hey there, puppy," she said. The dog looked up at her and ran over, tongue hanging out of its mouth and tail wagging. Rona laughed as the dog jumped into her arms and yipped a few times. Then, it looked over at a rolling ball and chased after it. Rona stood up, sensing danger and she jogged after the dog, only to watch it fall over the edge.

"No!" she cried, jumping over to grab the dog. Then Rona remembered she'd be street pizza. She closed her eyes and waited to hit the pavement.

It never came.

Rona opened her eyes to find the dog safely in her arms. Both were encased in a floating blue bubble. Rona smiled, then laughed. "I get it! I fly around in the bubble until I can do it on my own!" she said. "I had to get the bubble first. I did it! I'm flying!"

Deciding to get adventurous, Rona put the dog on her own roof (she'd find his owner later and discipline them for not watching their dog) and began to fly. She flew up high and looked down to see all of Boston below her. "Wow," she said as she saw views that even the Pru couldn't give her on a good day. Rona flew down a little, then quickly went back up in some sort of a reverse swan dive. She laughed as she continued to twirl around in the night air, flying to her heart's content.

Then, realizing she didn't know if there was a time limit, decided to race back home before she was street pizza.

~

Once she was back on the roof, she sat down before the puppy. "Hey little guy," she said, rubbing the dog behind it's ears. The dog yipped and let its tongue hang out of its mouth. "Thank you for teaching me how to fly. I really appreciate it."

The dog barked and then bit into the sleeve of Rona's shirt. She then found herself being dragged. "Okay, okay, I'll come investigate!" she said, running after the dog. The dog skidded to an adorably cute puppy stop before some boxes. Rona looked between them and gasped to find the flute lying there. "The flute! Thankyouthankyou!!!!!!!!!" said Rona excitedly, shaking the dog's paw. "Do you have a home?"  
The dog shook his head.

"You do now! C'mon, let's get you something to eat," said Rona.

~

Rona woke up the next morning to find the puppy still curled up at the end of her bed. The was one faithful little puppy. She laughed to herself as she sat up to rub behind the puppy's ears. The puppy yipped excitedly.

"Rona, what is that dog doing in your room?" Rona looked up to see her father looking in.

"He taught me how to fly," said Rona. "I flew last night and I got the flute to prove it."

Mr. Santana's eyes widened as she looked at his daughter. "Really?"

"Really. Boston has an awesome view from up high," she said. "Can I keep him?"  
Mr. Santana eyed his daughter. "Will you take care of him?" he asked. "With your school and athletics and responsibilities as a Ronin Senshi? Heh, well there's a line I never thought I use."

"I'll. . . give him to Anubis," said Rona. "He wanted a pet, and now he has one!"

"Are you sure no one ELSE owns the dog already?" asked her father.

Rona looked at the dog. "I never thought of that, I'll go next door and check. Lemme get dressed and we'll go off on our merry way, huh?"

~

Mr. Santana was sitting down to the paper when his daughter returned. "Well?" he asked.

"The puppy was two months old and ready to be given away anyways," said Rona. "HER new name is now Molly and I gave her to Keisha's neighbor, Jerome. You know, the really big guy on the football team?"

"Oh yeah, I know him. Didn't you go out with him for a while?" he asked.

"I've been out with a lot of guys 'for a little while'," Rona responded.

"So, are you gonna show me how you fly later tonight?" he asked.

"Sure, not a problem, Daddy," said Rona. "It's SOO cool, maybe I'll take you flying."

"Uh, how about not," said her father. "I only fly with airplanes, not super hero teenagers."

Rona laughed and kissed her father's bald spot. She laughed at the face he made. His bald spot was a sensitive spot, no matter how many times he told his dates it was a solar panel for the perfect man. 

Yeah, no one bought it.

"Well, I'm gonna go see how the others did with their powers, see ya, Daddy," she said. Mr. Santana nodded dumbly as he watched his daughter leave. 

"I need to get used to this," he grumbled to himself. 


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Ronin Senshi Legend

By Dixxy

Chapter Eighteen: Running with the Wind

Keisha sighed heavily. In the crowded sidewalks of Boston, she'd never be able to run like she was supposed to as one of the Ronin Senshi. She already knew from excited calls from Sam, Sara, and Rona that they'd all had luck with their powers, why not her?

So where could she go to get some good running? Her eyes widened. "The Cape," she said. Cape Cod was where she found her armor, so maybe that's where she'd find her powers. Keisha decided then and there she'd head for the Cape. So what if she just had a learner's permit? She was a decent driver, and it didn't take too much to talk Evan into something. . .

While Evan had been reluctant to lend her his car, he agreed, since he didn't want Trevor to rub in the fact his younger sister had powers and Keisha didn't. Evan and Trevor had gotten to be good friends (Both seventeen- Sara called them "Ev and Trev") and Trevor tended to get a little on the competitive side from time to time.

So Keisha was running along the much quieter and much more rural streets of Cape Cod. The beach was bound to be unstable thanks to the sand and maybe even a little cold, so she stuck to the back roads and trails.

Keisha enjoyed her run thoroughly, but she didn't find any super speed. Just what she was used to. Fast, but not as fast as Anubis said she could go. The dark Ronin was disappointed, but she kept going. It would happen soon, and hopefully before the war.

~

Keisha drove back to Boston with a feeling of being more than a little discontent. She'd failed to activate her powers for the second day in a row. She knew Ria was having even worse luck, but it didn't make her feel much better. Ria had a HARD thing to learn. Making flames had to have been difficult. Sara and Rona quickly learned that they just had to go in and do what they were to learn, and Sam weight trained for a short while before activating her boomerang. 

So what did she have to do?

"MY BABY!"

Keisha looked up to see a something going on at the T station at the Fleet Center. A woman was screaming like there was no tomorrow, so Keisha went to investigate. _Something's wrong,_ she thought to herself.

She then realized that a very small child- no older than two or three- had fallen into the pits where the tracks were. A woman in her mid twenties was pacing back and forth, looking down at the tracks where the toddler was walking around as if there was nothing wrong with his currently location. "My baby! Timothy! Don't worry, Mommy will save you!" said the worried mother.

Keisha made a few quick jumps until she was on the platform. She started over to where the woman was when she saw a train headed for the station, right into the pit where the little boy was! Wasting no time, Keisha darted to the pit and jumped it. 

"C'mon, let's get you outta here," said Keisha. The little boy looked up at her and stared at her blankly. "The train's coming- it isn't slowing down!" In the back of her mind, she pictured the engineer having trouble with the break, but that wasn't important. The kid was. She quickly took him under her arm and jumped up onto the rail and swung over, getting away before the train crashed into the cement. 

The woman- now in crying hysterics- took her son and hugged him tightly, the child crying as well. Keisha smiled as another set of visions entered her mind. Once again she saw the engineer, only the emergency break wasn't jammed. In the very back of the train, however, there was a bomb.

A BOMB!?

Keisha saw the train doors slide open. She darted inside, causing a few heads to turn and a few people to comment how rude she was being. "Everybody! Evacuate! There's a bomb in the caboose! THERE'S A BOMB IN THE CABOOSE!"

One of the conductors went right up to her. "Passengers, relax, there is no bomb in the caboose," said the conductor. He turned to Keisha. "Young lady-"

"Please, just check, I get gut feelings like this all the time and there is a bomb in that caboose! Please, just go check-"

"THERE'S A BOMB IN THE CABOOSE SET TO EXPLODE IN FIVE MINUTES!" someone in the back screamed. Suddenly, the doors flew open as people flew out by the dozens. Keisha quickly began to help people evacuate until the last person was off. 

Keisha ventured onto the doomed craft to look for anyone else who might be stuck. She heard whimpering in the back and found an old woman who'd fallen in the isle. "I can't get up, please, go on, save your young life!" she said.

"No one's dying today, ma'am," she said, taking her under her arm. Keisha used her free arm to scoop up the woman's legs and began to run, just as she heard ticks. "The bomb! Let's get outta here!" Keisha began to dart for the exit as the woman screamed. Keisha didn't need to look behind her to know the train was being engulfed in the flames. She darted out the closest exit and darted inside the Fleet Center, turning to watch the train explode.

Free of passengers. She'd saved every life that would have been lost.

Police officials were arresting a young red headed man. "You're going down, Capone, you've done enough damage as it is," said one of the officers.

"That's the dangerous Chicago subway bomber," someone in the crowd said. A young looking man dressed in black suddenly took on a look of panic and tried to run as the police bombarded him.

_So he set this up,_ said Keisha. She put the woman down near several paramedics who'd arrived on the scene. As she did the woman with the small boy pointed in her direction. 

"That's the girl who saved my little boy!" she said. 

"I'd. . . better get out of here," said Keisha, darting towards the fire exit by the bathrooms. On her way out, she remembered to look down, smiled, and grab the twin orange nunchaku by the bubblier. "Mission accomplished."

~

Keisha arrived home well past midnight. Her brother was still up, waiting for her. "Sis, they were talking about that Chicago bomber guy. Got caught tonight-"

"After a train exploded at the Fleet Center," said Keisha. "I was there."

Evan's eyes widened. "What were you doing at the Fleet Center?"

"Saved a little boy, all the passengers on the train including a little old lady who'd fallen and couldn't get up, avoided the press, and got my nunchaku," said Keisha. "How was your night?"  
Evan's face paled. "You did ALL THAT!?"

"Yup," said Keisha. "Worried about Trev shoving it up your butt now? Sara had her head in a bath tub and I saw a train full of people. And then some."

"But the train was totaled, you didn't save that," said Evan.

"I saved the people, the important thing, you dolt," said Keisha, giving her brother the Stink Eye. "And all I had to sacrifice was just missing curfew, but why do I get the feeling I won't be in trouble?"

Evan snorted. "So what, you save a train full of people, you're still late, kid."

"I'll be even later when the war starts," said Keisha. 

Evan sniffled. "Don't worry me like that," he said. "I don't want my little sister to go off to some magic war."

Keisha smiled softly, sitting next to her brother. "I'll be fine, Evan. I'll come home victorious with the other girls, you know that," she said. 

"But that's not a promise you can keep," he said. "We don't know who's gonna win that war."

"Good always wins over evil," said Keisha. "Just remember that."

"I still don't like sitting out," he said, frowning. "I wish I could do something to help."

"Just give us your support and we'll do fine," said Keisha. Then, she felt her stomach begin to growl. She looked up at her brother in hopeful curiosity. "Is there any ice cream in the freezer?"


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Nineteen: Flaming Hearts

Sally looked at her grand niece trying to light a log on fire. Tiger Lily had been by her, trying to help, seemingly. And that was the only one she received help from. Every time Sally had tried to give Ria a book of matches, she'd been declined rather coldly. She was upset with that and planned to reprimand Ria once she gained her fire power, but she understood why she was upset. She just needed to **not** release her frustrations out on her elders.

Still, pained her to watch the only person in the world that was as close to a child of her own that she'd even get. Sally had learned with her first and only husband, Bert, that she couldn't have children. He'd left her within the next few days for another woman. One who COULD have children. That left Ria as her pride and joy. 

Deciding that maybe she'd get hungry, Sally went inside and decided to make her a sandwich. She'd leave it by her and maybe she'd accept it. Ria was sure to be hungry, unless this whole destiny of her hand changed her. Sally looked up at the ceiling, closing her eyes in prayer. "Please, don't change," pleaded the older woman.

"What makes you think I changed?"

Sally turned to see Ria standing behind her. "I'm sorry I snapped at you for giving me the matches. I just need to do this on my own," she said. "I rejected you in the wrong way."

"Well, I understand," said Sally, sighing heavily. "But please, don't let your powers get too much to your head. I know you're the leader and all, but, you're all I have, and I just don't want you to change into a cold hearted person."

"I'll never change into that," said Ria. "We're all going to change, but I won't do that. I might gloat after beating up Trulpa, but I'll never change into a power hungry greed nose."

Sally nodded, hugging her niece. Ria hugged her in return, resting her head on her aunt's shoulder. Tiger Lily looked on, feeling deep emotions for her mistress and her aunt. Then, she walked away.

~

Ria stayed up late in the basement, trying to activate a fire over some wood she'd set up on the floor. She'd made sure it was safe and had a bucket of water nearby to put it out quickly. The wood was surrounded by a tight ring of rocks. Ria sat kneeled before the fire pit, her hands pressed together, her eyes closed. A few droplets of sweat dripped down her face, a look of deep thought onset onto her face.

Her eyes flew open as she opened her palms. 

Nothing. 

"Worked for Sailor Mars," she said miserably. "But that's a cartoon!"

Ria stared at the flame pit before her and sighed heavily. She heard thumps on the stairs and saw Tiger Lily coming down. "Hey girl, coming to keep me company?"

Tiger Lily sat next to Ria, nuzzled her head up to the young girl. Ria laughed, rubbing the large cat behind her ears. "You overgrown house cat," teased Ria. She leaned up against Tiger Lily, looking at the flame pit. "Should I try doing this in subarmor?"

Tiger Lily nodded.

"That's a stupid question. All right, where's my armor orbe?" asked Ria, slapping her pocket with her hand. "There it is! All right, Wildfire of the Senshi, Tao Jin!" she said. Unlike her first transformation, her clothes were shed from her body as a burst of cherry blossoms swam around her, forming the close fitting red and white body armor. 

Once she was completely transformed, Ria sat back down before the fire pit. "Maybe I need to try and make my finger ignite like a lighter or something," she said. Ria held up her index finger, her other hand closed in a fist and pressed to the other hands. She concentrated, but found nothing.

Ria groaned miserably, then, got an idea. The eager Senshi bounded up the stairs and found the book of matches her aunt had given her, then brought them back downstairs. "Sally, you gave me an idea," said Ria. She took her subarmored finger and swiped it across the striker. Nothing. She tried it again. No effect. Ria kept trying, going faster and harder. Her finger would not light. "Boy, I'm glad I'm not a pyromaniac. With my luck I'd go nuts."

Tiger Lily nudged at her hands. "My hands?" asked Ria. "Are you telling me that my hands are the key? Wait a second, that's gotta be it!" With the last statement, Ria snapped her fingers.

And her index finger ignited.

Ria stared at the flame on her fingertip in disbelief, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging slightly open. "I did it. I did it! I made fire! I CREATED FIRE! I ROCK! I RULE THE WORLD! Uh, maybe not that. . ."

Ria smiled to herself, blowing on her flaming finger. The flame wouldn't go off. Thinking quickly, Ria dunked her fist into the bucket of water. After a sizzle, Ria pulled her hand out and was shocked to see the white subarmor hadn't even been singed by the flames. Feeling good about herself and content with the day, Ria decided to head upstairs. As she did, she looked at her forearm and found a row of throwing stars. Ria's eyes glistened as she smiled. They were all bright red and most likely flammable.

"I'm turning into the pyromaniac I was talking to myself about," she mumbled.

~

The following day, the girls gathered at Mike's mansion to start training seriously. He had a large back yard, where they spared and practiced different skills. Rona worked on her archery while Keisha and Sara battled it out one on one. Ria and Sam practiced sword play, Sam choosing a large blade and Ria taking two smaller, slimmer blades. 

Mike watched the girls practice. Keisha and Sara were ramming each other with different acrobatics skills, fighting techniques, and sneak attacks. Rona was swiftly hitting the targets he'd set up, the vast majority of them bulls eyes. The sound of Ria and Sam's swords clashing was invigorating, and made him curious as to what the war itself would be like. Despite the snow, they wore only subarmor, and fighting rather well consider that.

The cool January air bit at Mike's nose, so he went inside. Anubis had gone off somewhere, saying he was going to mediate over something. Mike had a worried feeling deep in his gut. Something, some sort of a natural instinct, told him the war was drawing painfully close. Anubis felt it. He knew it.

Over the few months he'd known him, Anubis had become sort of his best friend. As Anubis became more aquatinted with the modern world, the closer he and Mike became. They were able to do so much more now, like go to the movies and sporting events. Anubis had become QUITE the Patriots fan. That made sense considering he'd woken up in the Patriot Girl's locker room. 

Suddenly, Anubis came in through the front door, a look on concern plastered onto his face. "Where are the girls?"  
"Out back, why?"

Anubis' eyes were serious. "I need to talk to them," he said.

Mike followed Anubis out to the back door. The girls stopped and turned their attention to Anubis. 

"What's wrong, Anubis?" asked Keisha. "Is something wrong?"

"It's Trulpa, isn't it?" said Ria.

Anubis nodded. "Trulpa's planning to attack at the end of February."

"THAT soon?" said Sam. "But, we don't even have the big armors yet!"

"That's why we need to get you girls to activate those as soon as possible," said Anubis. "The world depends on that."


	20. Chapter Twenty

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty: Armors Discovered

Two weeks passed, and the girls had yet to succeed. It was the twenty-sixth, the end of February was just over a month away. They had to activate their armors as soon as possible to get a good grip on using them before Trulpa began her assault. All five spent as much time as possible training. It was soon to the point where they virtually lived at Mike's house, heading there straight after school to quickly finish their homework and begin their training. Despite the importance of the war, they couldn't let their grades drop. Their social lives and family lives could be rebuilt.

Their world couldn't.

That day was a Friday, and the girls sat out on the roof of Mike's house, trying to figure out how to unlock their armors. They'd begun to use their magic to a certain degree. Rona was able to create small wind storms. Ria was able to ignite wood and matches with a mere thought. Sara could make water bend to her will, making bubbles that magically floated around. Keisha could turn normal rocks into beautiful crystals and metals. Sam could control the flow of electricity in her apartment, although her Aunt Ella preferred her not to for obvious reasons.

The one thing the Ronin Senshi couldn't do was to call apon their armors. 

"Even Anubis doesn't know how we're going to activate our armors," said Sara. "So we've got to do it!"  
"Us?" said Keisha.

"Yeah, we have to figure it out!" said Sara. She turned to Ria. "Ria, you're our leader!"

Ria nodded.

"Keisha, you're psychic!" said Sara.

"Is there a point?" asked Keisha.

"Rona's a super genius!" said Sara. Rona smiled. "And Sam is. . . Sam. We have got to work together to figure this whole thing out. We'll never do it if we don't work together! If we just trust in each other, we can pull it off!" With those words, Sara's forehead began to softly glow.

Rona stood up next. "You're right! We need to combine our powers to activate our ultimate powers! Then we can protect the lives of everyone on this rock we call a planet!" she said. Her forehead began to glow as well.

"Then we learn how to use our armors to defeat Trulpa! We'll give her the justice she deserves for even thinking about taking this world!" said Keisha. As did the other two, her forehead began to glow.

Sam joined the other three standing Ronins. "If we don't work together as a team, the world is doomed, as well as us. That's why we need to learn everything we can about our powers and try to get along better. We can't do something stupid- that wouldn't be wise." A fourth glow joined the other three.

Finally, Ria stood up. "We can't give up. We won't quit until we've claimed our armors and shoved Trulpa back into the hole she crawled out of! All of the good things on this world are hanging in the balance- our lives, our dreams, our relationships, and our good morals and virtues."

The last forehead glowed. That was when the glows took on bright hues and the girls suddenly transported away from the roof.

~

Ria awoke to find herself in the pit of a deep, boiling volcano. At first she was prepared to scream until she realized her subarmor was on and she wasn't getting burnt. "Whoa, what happened?" she wondered aloud. She looked around the deep magma chamber, wondering where the volcano was. But like it mattered. What mattered was getting back to Boston.

"Okay, what's the deal of being- the armor!" she said, staring in front of her. Before her on a high ledge was a glistening red armor. Two, ivory white horns were on the brilliant helmet, a set of katanas on the back. Ria bounded up to the ledge and stood before the great armor. Slowly, she walked up to it and pressed her hands against the curved chest.

~

Sam opened her eyes and looked around the crystal cavern she found herself. "What happened?" she asked herself. The cavern was a brilliant crystal, shining in a thousand hues. Sam folded her arms and looked down to see she was in subarmor. She smiled. It made her feel safer. The cavern wasn't scary, but she didn't know where she was and that made her nervous.

Sam pivoted on her heels and smiled even more brightly to see a bright green armor had been behind her. Two yellow lightening bolts came from the helmet. A huge, silver-white sword lay across its lap. Sam walked up to it, her violet eyes glistening as the armor seemed to shine in the cave. Slowly, and nervously, Sam reached out to touch the smooth breastplate.

~

Sara found herself underwater, fish and coral surrounding her. She spun around, VERY thankful for her ability to breathe underwater. The smallest Ronin knew she was several hundred feet below the surface, and the coral was a wonder, as was the light. _How can I see?_ she wondered to herself. Her subarmor glistened in the unknown light source.

Suddenly, her eyes caught a light blue glimmer. Sitting on a patch of coral guarded by a great orca was her armor! The light blue helmet contained a two-colored visor and a great, dorsal fin like horn. Slapped onto the back was a great spear with a huge man gripper. Sara swam over, then stopped at the great whale. She swam up to pet its nose, getting a gentle nudge from the great beast. Sara laughed, her voice sounding like an echo underwater. The whale echoed back, looking down at the armor. Sara nodded, understand what he wanted as she swam over to touch it.

~

Keisha's first reaction to the sandy desert she found herself in involved some choice language. That surprised Keisha, she never swore. The only thing in her environment was her, her subarmor, and lots and lots and lots and lots of sand. "Do I have to go find the others in this place?" she said. As she spoke, a huge gust of wind blew. Keisha shielded her eyes and face as the wind carried the sand her way.

Once the wind calmed down, sitting on a stone altar was the orange armor that she knew was her. Two smooth ivory horns were attached to the helmet, one considerably larger than the other. A bladed staff lay across its lap, waiting to be picked up and fought with. Keisha ran over to look it over, circling it. The dark Senshi was fascinated by it, running her hands over the smooth, slick metal.

~

Rona laughed giddily as she found herself in subarmor and floating in her own little bubble through space. The stars were shining brilliantly, seeming to greet their long time friend from Earth into their home. She darted around her new playground, spinning around and around. Her laughter rang through the empty hollows of space, her eyes glistening from the sun's rays.

Suddenly, a dark blue dot caught her eye. Going to investigate, she was pleasantly surprised to find her armor waiting for her in its own bubble. Rona marveled at the golden yellow horns and the tall blue stalk of the helmet, greatly impressed by the huge bow she would use to fire her arrows from. Rona pushed her way into the bubble to investigate the armor. 

~

The next thing any of the Senshi knew, they were back on Mike's rooftop with one major difference. All five wore their armors and carried their weapons. "We did it!" said Keisha, twirling around her staff. "This thing is so cool!"

"The helmet makes you look like a Viking," said Sara, laughing. Through the armor, her bright eyes gleaming as she casually held up the spear. Her dagger had found a home on her back, slapped on like Velcro.

Rona reached behind her, a magical quiver on her back drawing forth a silver arrow. The Hispanic archer notched the arrow and aimed it at a nearby tree. She hit it, and luckily, didn't split it in her. She said nothing, just smiled brightly.

Sam took a few practice swings with her gigantic sword, getting the feel of the great weapon. "Heh, the Ancient was a good man to equip these things," she said, looking at the others. For once, both eyes were visible.

Ria stared into the night, her katanas in hand, blades tipped downwards. A warm radiance came from her. "You guys all realize this means that there's no way out now, right?" she said. "This is it. We're going to war."

Keisha walked up to her leader, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We all knew that when we were united and began to investigate our armor orbes. None of us chose to back out."

"We're all going to go through with this. Are you looking to back out?" asked Sara.

Ria shook her head. "No, just making sure you guys weren't. Let's go and find Anubis. We need to begin to train with these," she said.

The girls nodded as Anubis came out onto the roof. "Girls, what happened. . . you did it! You gained your armors!" he said excitedly. "We'll begin training tomorrow. Things are going to get intense, but you can do it. I know you all can."


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-One: The Night Before the War

It was another Friday. Night had fallen over Boston in the deep, February evening. It was late February, and the war was due to begin any day now.

The past week had been hectic for the Ronin Senshi. Anubis had suggested that the Senshi's parent's leave town before Trulpa attacked- that way the Dynasty Empress wouldn't try to go after those most dear to the girls. The girls would call them when all was clear. Their families left for the Narrlobi family's vacation house in northern New Hampshire, leaving the Senshi at home. Notes had been sent in for their siblings, stating they were all sick with the flu. 

All five Senshi lived in Mike's house for that time, bunking in the basement, living room, and guest room. Rona and Mike balanced cooking and ordering out for food. Sam led martial arts training sessions. Sara showed the girls a few useful gymnastics techniques. Ria planned out strategies with Anubis. Keisha spent her free time exercising her psychic abilities or excessive speed.

The war was drawing closer with each day.

That Friday, Keisha had told the others she'd begun to get strong, evil feelings. The Staff occasionally went berserk, and Anubis said he could feel a Gateway in its early stages close by. What could have been days was narrowed down to what could possibly be mere hours. Mike had sent them all to bed early, since there was no telling when an attack would occur and they needed as much sleep as possible.

The girls were accumulated in living room, all on cots or the sleeper sofa. Given Sam and Keisha weren't happy about sharing the sleeper sofa, but Mike only had so many cots to go around. Besides, they DID draw the short straws. To compensate, they'd attempted to build a barrier of pillows, which didn't work.

"Last time, Thomas," said Keisha.

"Last time, Narrlobi," said Sam.

Sara shook her head. "Space is limited and we need to be in one spot. This was the easiest and most practical," she said. Her eyes lowered. "Am I the only one who's scared?"  
"No, of course not," said Ria from the next cot over. "We're all scared. It could be down to hours at this point, and we have no idea what to expect."

"Sara, I think we'd have to be inhuman or REALLY used to going to war to NOT be nervous," said Rona. "Anubis might be less scared than us, maybe not at all, but I have a feeling he's a veteran of some other war on a magical scale."

Keisha sat up. "I had that feeling, too," she said. "He's just retired, sort of, to the student of the Ancient One. And he'd just passing on the knowledge."

Sam looked up at the ceiling. "I wonder what it'll be like. The rush of adrenaline must be incredible," she said.

"Yeah," said Sara. "Almost like video games, when you get really involved. Except there's no 'Game Over, start again' screen to go back to your last save."

Rona shivered. "Sara has a point, there. We have to be careful, but at the same time, aggressive with the enemy."

"What do you mean?" asked Sam.

"The more aggressive we are, the more monsters we'll take down and then our chances of getting killed are lowered," said Sara.

"Exactly," said Rona. "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay and try to get some sleep. G'night," she said.

"This'll be the last one we'll have for a while if Keisha and Anubis are right," said Ria. "Sleep tight."

The rest exchanged good night and before long, all five were fast asleep.

~

Anubis sat awake, looking up at the stars above. "Ancient One, are you out there?" he asked. As he expected, her received no reply. "I, I suppose that I've never really done this before, but I'm sorry for what I did as a Dark Warlord."

The night wind blew softly, lightly blowing his hair in the breeze. "I know that I helped Rowen and Ryo save themselves from Lady Kayura, and that I played a hand in rescuing the other three. I know I killed myself to save Kayura from Badamon. And I know I've trained the Senshi in the young women warriors they are, but have I done enough to make up for the damage I have done?"

A soft growl was his answer. Anubis turned to see Tiger Lily behind him. "Do you know what I was?" he asked. Tiger Lily joined him on the balcony, nudging his knee. "But you've seen me in battle before. Your mate has."

_You were controlled by a lust for power that has died. In its place is a new lust for helping this world,_ he heard Tiger Lily think.

"You forgive me?" asked Anubis.

Tiger Lily snorted. _Would the Ancient let you use the Staff and train the Senshi if he hadn't? I follow his will as much as you do, of course I forgive you. The earth forgives you. The Ronin Warriors must have forgiven you, did they?_

"I suppose so, after a while. It took a while for Hardrock and Halo to trust me, but the other three were quick to trust me, although Torrent shouldn't have been a surprise," said Anubis. "They were good kids. It's been less than a year since Talpa's last war I participated in."

_Who is to say that they have fought since then? My link with White Blaze isn't as strong as it used to be, but I haven't sensed a battle from him for a while. Just. . . hurt. Part of it was from you, that much I know, but it was joined by more hurt._

"More hurt?" asked Anubis. 

_I don't understand it. And I'm worried about my mate, but that doesn't matter. Tomorrow we have to go to war with Trulpa. You know its tomorrow._

"That I do. How are the girls?" asked Anubis.

_Scared, but ready to fight. Much like many past Ronin Senshi, and I'm quite sure much like many past Ronin Warriors. But do they have what it takes to fight? You have trained them and they are easily the best trained of the Senshi I have seen, but is that strong enough?_

"We won't know until later, but I feel that they're too stubborn to not be strong enough!" remarked Anubis. 

Tiger Lily shook her head. _Stubbornness won't win them the war. They DO need to apply themselves._

The Ancient's student rolled his eyes. "Well DUH," he said.

_You've sure adapted to the Mortal World. Now you're talking like them, too._

"The Ronin Senshi have become my friends. Mike, too. Of course I've learned to talk like them. I'm living with them in Boston, aren't I?" he said. 

Tiger Lily nodded. _You need rest as well. They'll need a head start, so I'll make sure they're up by five. I know they'll want two things: showers and food. Then Keisha is going to drive them to the outskirts of the metropolian area and they're going to split up. That was the plan, wasn't it?_

"That it was. Ria and I worked on it. You and I come in later, since tigers don't look good downtown," said the monk. He frowned. "Why is it I'm the only one who can talk with you, anyways?"

_You have the Staff, they don't._

"Oh."

_I'm going to lay down in a clean pile of laundry, and you'd better get some sleep, too. It's going to be a LONG day tomorrow._

Anubis grumbled. "No kidding. Good night, flea ball."

_Good night, Nuby-doo._

"I thought we agreed you weren't going to say anything about my name and that infernal mutt in the same sentence!"

_Scooby is a Great Dane. Get yours dogs straight._

"Stupid tiger," Anubis said once Tiger Lily was out of ear shot. The he went to get some sleep.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Last Hours

By the time five o'clock rolled around the following morning, the Ronin Senshi were functioning in a way they never thought possible. All five were showered, dressed, and eating within the hour. Each one took time to go over some last minute mental preparations.

Ria leaned up against the door to the backyard, her bagel in hand. As she chewed and swallowed, she thought about the coming war. It was now without a doubt mere hours away. They'd have fought at least one battle by dusk. Keisha said that her senses were stronger than ever and that worried the others. They'd trained for months, but they knew nothing could prepare them for the actual thing.

Rona sat alone in the living room, her cereal balanced on her knee as she blankly stared ahead of her. Throughout her existence, she never once imagined she'd be a real super hero. Sure, when she was a kid she'd pretend she was a Power Ranger or a VR Trooper, but never once did she think those things were real. It scared her, but she felt good knowing that she'd be saving the world.

Sara had the den, shared only with Sam. The smallest of the Ronins wondered if her size would prevent her from fighting as well as the others, or if there was some disadvantage she wasn't prepared for. She could fight them all and keep up with them, but what about the Dynasty monsters? Would she be able to keep up with them? No matter how much she enjoyed fighting, Sara wasn't sure she was ready.

Sam, on the other side of the den, thought about her mother. She wondered if she'd have been proud of her, or if she'd be terrified and forbade her to go. Even if her mother was alive and forbade her to leave, she had to go to war. It was her destiny as a Ronin Senshi, and if someone stood in her way, even her mother, she would have to go against her words and leave anyways.

Keisha was outside in Evan's car, the keys already in the ignition. There wasn't much else space for her to have a place to her own, so she got the car. Her psychic senses had been going ballistic for the past week, and it was at its peak that morning. She tried to reach into the spirit world to see if she could predict the outcome of the war or some sort of a turning point, she found none. She was as blind to this as her friends were.

Finally, the girls were ready to go at six-thirty. The sky was still dark, a hint of dew on all of the plants as the morning sun began to awaken, seemingly oblivious to what it would soon encounter. The remaining four piled into the passenger seat and back seats of the dark blue Nissan, Keisha starting up the car. After a flawless first attempt, the car was started and they pulled away from Mike's mansion. 

"Well, here we go for the ride of our lives," said Sara. "Now I'm even MORE petrified."

"So am I, but I need to concentrate on driving," said Keisha.

Rona, who'd claimed the front passenger seat, turned on the radio. "This'll get our minds off the war and give us a positive attitude."

_Another one bites the dust. Another one bites the dust. And another one's gone and-_

"Uh, not today," said Rona, changing the station.

_I try to say good-bye and I-_

"AH! IT'S MACY GRAY! CHANGE IT, CHANGE IT!" shrieked the girls in back.

"_Have you ever been constipated? Do you want to be RELEAVED of-_"

__

"No thank you," said Rona.

_Beating on the walls of heartache! I am the warrior!_

"That's what I'm talking about!" said Sara, beginning to sing along as she drummed on the seat in front of her. Both Ria and Sam gave the smallest Senshi a strange, confused look. "Women warriors, that's what we are! We're gonna kick BUTT!"

"The song's over," said Rona. "What's next?"

_Shout! Shout! Let it all out! These are the things I can do without, come on! I'm talking to you, come on!_

"No thanks," said Ria.

"You guys don't like Tears for Fears?" asked Sara.

"Who?" asked Keisha.

_It's tearing up my heart when I'm with you, but when we are apart, I feel it too. And no matter what I do I feel the pain, with or without you._

"*N SYNC wins, my car, my rules," said Keisha, turning up the radio. "Everybody, sing along!"

"No," said Sam. "They're egotistical jerk wads that use good looks and talent-impaired voices and dance moves to seduce women into bed."

"Interesting view," said Ria. "Let's just forget about what the boy bands do behind closed doors and just TRY to relax."

~

After a few more adventures with the radio control dials, the girls made it to the main city part of Boston. Ria gave the girls a specific location. "Sam? Museum of Science. Rona? Boston Commons. Sara? Aquarium. Keisha? Theatre district. Me? The Back Bay."

"That spreads us out pretty thinly," said Sara.

"Boston is a big city. There are five of us. We have to go thin until we find out where they're going to attack," said Ria.

"Right," said Keisha. "Let's get a move on, and try to act normal."

"What are you gonna do in the theatre district?" asked Sara. "Most of the plays there-"

"Starbucks," she said dryly.

"Oh," said Sara. "I'll probably hit Quincy or stare at the otters."

"Good thing I got a season pass for the Museum of Science. It's expensive," she said. 

Rona laughed. "I'll go guy watching. I doubt anyone's going to be there, but you never know. Maybe I'll find a REAL cutie-"

"You're weird," said Sam.

Ria sighed heavily. "TRY to keep an eye out for the Dynasty, NOT guys, shopping, coffee, and the toys at the Museum of Science."

"We know," they said in unison, and the girls split up.

~

A matter of a few hours passed. It was nine o'clock and the Boston city life was in full swing. People shopped, worked, and enjoyed the life of the city. The great thing about Boston was that while it was big, it wasn't nearly as dangerous as New York or Los Angeles. It did have its gangs and dangers, but it was so much less. And there was so much to do!

It was around nine thirty that people began to notice the thick shadowy cloud hovering over the city. People stopped in the streets and gazed up at the huge cloud over Boston. Slowly, the city turned its attention to the overbearing blackness that blanketed the city. It even got to the point where the sun could no longer be seen.

Then, the power went. Computers shut down, lights went off, cars stopped in their tracks. Boston was met by an eerie calm not met in many, many decades. The calm was held for a few seconds before people began to panic. Screams and swears filled the air as the darkness continued to cut off Boston from the rest of the world. A thin fog began to roll in, adding to the massive confusion. 

But nothing would prepare the city for the armored soldiers than began to fill the streets. Hundreds of soldiers armed with weapons and armor of ancient Japan lined the street. One cop fired a shot at one of the armored demons, having no effect on what was now rather obviously a demon to most of the citizens of the city. 

Amongst the chaos, the five Ronin Senshi, in five parts of the city, watched from rooftops and hidden locations at the hysteria the Dynasty was causing.

The war had begun.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Three: The War Has Begun

A huge horde of Tin Cans had surrounded Boston's every exit. People were being herded into the Dynasty, just like Talpa had done. Tin Cans patrolled the streets, searching for Senshi. Some people tried to get away, but a few were killed. 

The girls had gathered around the Museum of Fine Arts, where Keisha had felt an attack was going to take place. "So, here's where our first battle is gonna be?" she said.

"Looks like it," said Ria. "Girls split up. Sara, I was you to go and find Anubis. We might need his help in the battle, got it?"

"Got it," said Sara, saluting her leader.

"On my word, split up. "One, two, GO!"

~

Anubis stood in an alleyway, looking just like he had eight months before. An orange tiger sat beside him. "Good girl, Tiger Lily. You're doing a fine job." The monk stared at the empty solider beside him. "Now, where are the girls?"

"I'm right here."

Anubis turned around to see Sara standing behind him. "Sara, where are your friends?"

"We all split up to attack the big Solider by the Museum of Fine Arts," said the girl called Sara.

"The big Soldier," repeated Anubis. "More than likely that's a colonel of some sort. All right, go on."

"Okay," she said, running off. Anubis and the tiger slowly took off behind her.

KA-BOOM!

"Oh no, not already!" said Anubis. He ran to the Museum to see the other four Senshi and little Sara standing around the Tin Can. The girls each went through a short introduction of themselves, almost like they were trying to mock the solider before them.

Sara lifted her leg, grabbing her dagger. She threw it at the Tin Can and. . . missed. "Drats!" she said. She held up her hand and the weapon came back. All of the Senshi then began to madly toss their weapons and throw punches and kicks at the Tin Can, who simply threw them around like rag dolls.

Anubis smacked his forehead. _How many months of training did I give them? Nearly three months of training gives me THIS result. This is going to be harder than I initially thought. . oh well. . . looks like I HAVE to use the Staff and give them some more lessons of TEAM work. Heh, they look like the Ronin Warriors during their first battle, only, female._ Anubis lifted up the staff and threw it into the battle, ending it.

Ria turned to Anubis, frowning. "We could have taken him," she said.

"Ria, we were getting our butts kicked back there," said Keisha. "We did horribly!"

"You need to work together. Individually, none of you can defeat the Dynasty," said Anubis.

"But we WERE working together," said Sara.

"Taking turns launching attacks isn't teamwork. You need to function as one. Attack as a single unit and overwhelm the soldiers until you ARE able to handle as many as six, seven, or even a dozen on your own. But you're still learning about being a Senshi, so you need to rely on each other."

The girls nodded, exchanging looks.

CRACK!

A streak of unnatural lightening shot across the sky. Four bolts of it struck the pavement before the Ronin Senshi and Anubis. The girls gasped as they saw the four menacing looking armors before them. 

"Hello, Ronin Slime," said the leader of the group. This armor was mostly black with a brown overcoat. "She" (the voice was female) held a chain with a menacing looking claw at the end. "I am Anubra, Dark Warlady of Cruelty."

"I am Vanessa, Dark Warlady of Venom," said the red and green armor. Sara's eyes widened at the large arsenal of swords this one carried. Overall, the armor looked extremely dangerous with all the spikes and points on it. "I will enjoy fighting you young women very much."

The tan armor with black horns laughed. "I am Cara, Dark Warlady of Darkness and Corruption," she said. A red cape was on her back, a long sword attached to her back. Deep maroon sheets of glass were in the eyes holes, an off feature. Sam sneered.

The last of the Warladies wore a deep purple armor with green, spiky horns. "I am Daria, Warlady of Illusion," she said. Keisha narrowed her eyes at the purple armor, then blinked in curiosity at the strange, six bladed weapon she welded.

Anubis held the Staff in a protective position. "What do the four of you want?" he asked.

"Actually, we're just here to check out the competition, not to fight. Yet," said Anubra. "I see that they won't bee TOO much of a challenge. We shall see you later, Senshi brats." With that, the Warladies were gone. 

"I don't like them," said Rona.

"Neither do I," said Keisha.

"They're Trulpa's generals, four VERY dangerous women," he said.

Sara's eyes widened. "There are people under there?"

"Yes, just like your own armors," he said. "They are the other four armors formed from Trulpa's armor."

"That's right, there are four others," said Sam. "They're each about as old as Anubis."

Anubis took offense. "I'm only four hundred years old," he said.

"I rest my case," said Sam. 

"We need to take this seriously, guys, this is real," said Ria. "Look, right now we need to set up some sort of an HQ, but not Mike's house."

"Why?" asked Rona.

"It'll attract unwanted attention over there," said Ria. She closed her eyes. "The Fleet Center train station. It's far from any of our homes."

"What do we from there though?" asked Sara.

"It'll be where we sleep, eat, plan, and heal up," she said. "Let's get going."

"Food?" asked Sara. "Where do we find food?"

"Food is not always necessary when in armor. You only need to eat once every few weeks since your armor supplies most of the energy," he said.

"Once every few weeks?!" said Rona. "That's incredible!"

_The Ancient was a smart man, _thought Anubis, remembering the similar feature from his old armor. "Does it truly matter? Let's get ourselves set up and ready to go over some more fighting skills. You DO need to work together. That is what could very well be the difference between you winning or loosing, and the world cannot afford for you to loose this fight."  
"Right, let's shape it up and get together," said Ria. The other four Senshi nodded following their leader to the sports area.

~

Dusk came and went, and the Senshi were soon swallowed by the thick of the night in the already dark streets of Boston. They spent the day working on strategies for fighting off Tin Cans and the Warladies. The five knew, however, that the Warladies would be the biggest problem. The Warladies were VERY well and very deadly Senshi.

But somehow, they all managed to get a shaky night of sleep. Only Anubis remained awake. "Let God be with us," he said. 


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Four: A Victory

The next day the Senshi left their HQ and took to the streets, looking for something to work at. "Man, Boston is a ghost town," said Keisha. "There's nothing here but dust and debris."

"No kidding," said Ria. She looked around, a shiver running up her spine. Boston had been her home for a few years now, but she felt no safety in the city she'd grown to love. Now it was strange and alien, which frightened her. 

"Keisha, can you sense anything at all?" asked Sara. "A bad guy, a refugee, anything!"

"No- wait, someone escaped!" she said excitedly. 

The girls looked towards the psychic of their group. "Well?" asked Sam.

"Quincy Market area, someone eluded the Tin Cans and they're being attacked," said Keisha. "Let's haul it down there!"

The Ronin Senshi darted in the direction of the outdoor shopping mall and heard a scream. "That sounded like Sue Lee! Mike must be with her!" said Sara. "We've got to get to them!"

"I hope we can stand up to the Tin Can," said Rona.

"Teamwork," said Sam.

The girls found Sue Lee and Mike cornered by a Tin Can into the old abandoned floral shop. The glass house was now empty, nothing indicating the spectrum of colors and scents it once was. Five ticked off Ronin Senshi busted into the shop and got the attention of the soldier. The soldier grunted and charged through the glass at them. Mike and Sue Lee stared in wonderment.

"All right, Bucket Head, bring it on!" said Keisha. The Dynasty soldier looked at her and charged. Keisha artfully leapt out the way, giving way for Rona to land a smashing kick into its head. The helmet flew off, leaving nothing but the armor part.

Apparently it decided it wasn't quite dead and continued to attack.

"I thought they were supposed to die after a body part was removed or they were impaled!" said Keisha.

"Tell that to him!" said Sara. She scrapped her feet on the pavement, softly jiggled her hips, and charged the Tin Can. From surprise the Tin Can was taken down by Sara's small form and he began to stab at the chest plate. Even after several gashes, nothing stopped the now TICKED Dynasty soldier. It effortlessly threw Sara off, but she got back on her feet and took a fighting position. Still, it was obvious she was sore.

"My turn," said Sam, grabbing it's wrist and throwing it over her shoulder. Ria leapt into the air and kicked the Tin Can while in mid-flight, sending it ten feet away into a conveniently placed brick wall. The headless soldier made a sound, then went limp. 

"Is it. . . dead?" asked Rona.

"It could be faking it," said Keisha, slowly walking up to it. She found a stick and poked it. It didn't move. She poked it harder, and this time it fell over. Keisha yelped from the shock and backed away. The dark Senshi crept back over to it, poking it with her stick again.

"Keisha. . . it's dead," said Rona. "You can stop poking it with the stick, now."

"There doesn't seem to be anything coming from it, so I guess you're right," said Keisha. "Let's get back to the Fleet Center."

~

"Excellent!" said Anubis. "You defeated your first Tin Can!"

"After it refused to die from getting it's head knocked off and Sara giving it more whacks than Lizzy Borden gave her parents," said Ria miserably.

"Who's Lizzy Borden?" asked Anubis.

Rona cleared her throat. "A famous murderess who killed her parents with an ax. There's a poem about it," she said. "But why didn't it die?"

"Sometimes Dynasty soldiers are extra strong and can live after all that. But the odds of you running into one is about the same as Sam going on a hot date," said Anubis.

Sam snarled in Anubis' direction. "Shut up," she said.

"So we probably just lucked out when we killed it," said Sara. She crossed her arms as she leaned up against one of the walls. "They get easier, you say?"

"Very," said Anubis. "Like those RPGs you like to play. As you gain more experience, the monsters at the beginning of the game go down easily."

"Ooo, I knew all that Final Fantasy was a good thing," said Keisha sarcastically.

Anubis just sighed heavily. "The Warladies are going to be MUCH more difficult, and I don't even want to BEGIN on Trulpa," he said.

"Trulpa is an overlord of the Dynasty, so you girls aren't in for an easy fight," said Mike. "Train hard, because you'll need it."

"We're going to head out again to try and find some more Tin Cans to fight. We need to start getting better at fighting these things," said Ria.

"Be careful!" said Sue Lee.

Rona laughed heartily. "We'll be careful, Munchkin," said Rona, smiling brightly. With that, the girls left their safe haven.

~

A few hours later, the girls were gathered the aquarium. They'd gotten into a few fights with a few hordes of Tin Cans. They did find that they were getting much better and even finding the ability to take them down on their own. Soon, a group of a dozen soldiers that would have sent the Senshi screaming back to Anubis a few hours ago were no a problem as they went down fairly quickly. 

Sara looked on at the otter tank, feeling terrible for the animals who remain inside. "Should we see what we can do about keeping the animals from starving to death?"

"No," said Ria. "We don't know how often some of these animals need to be fed or if it's time for them to be fed. Even you, the sea life expert, wouldn't have a clue what the staff here does."

"So then how do we help them?" asked Sam.

"We'll talk to Anubis when we go back to HQ tonight," said Sara. 

"You Senshi brats won't make it back to your little 'HQ' once we have destroyed you."

The Senshi looked up to the top of the aquarium to see one of the four Warladies standing there. From the red thing whipping in the wind behind them, they knew it was Cara. 

"What do YOU want?!" demanded Sam.

"To destroy you, what else?" said the voice of Daria, who appeared in front of the otter tank. The confused otters looked at each other and dove.

"Not if we take down your Dynasty first!" said Keisha, grabbing her nunchaku off her back and giving them a few quick spins.

Vanessa leapt out of a bush and stood before the Senshi. "Oh, is that so, little girls? We have been alive for well over three hundred years," she said. "We have so much more experience than you do."

"Um, there's five of us and only four of you since we all know that wench Anubra is going to show up," said Ria.

"I am NOT a wench!" said the VERY angry Anubra. "That's it, let's fight!"


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Five: Spectacular Discovery

Sam knew that one way or another, she and the others were going to get into a fight. "Well then," she said. "What are we waiting for? Let's fight!" 

"Ronin Senshi, GET IT ON! Wildfire of the Senshi, DAO JIN!" said Ria. (Note: Ria's been watching too many Celebrity Death Matches)

The remaining four followed suit until they stood face to face against their enemies. Anubra laughed as she swung her chain and threw it at Sara, who just barely avoided the sharp, deadly blade at its end. Ria and Rona growled and charged at her. Anubra leapt onto a building top as a battle between the three ensued.

Keisha took the lead from there. "Okay, Sara, take Vanessa. Sam, take Cara. I got Daria," she said.

"Who put you in charge?" said Sam.

"She's the oldest, the psychic, and we can't spend a lot of time arguing over who fights who just DO IT!" said Sara, leaping into the air to try and strike down Vanessa with her yari. By then, Keisha and Daria had already taken off, crying out war cries in honor of their own sides. 

"Well, it's just you and me, Halo," said Cara, smirking at the tallest and strongest of the Ronin Senshi. "I'll let you take the first strike."

Sam narrowed her eyes. Cara was up to something, but what? Sam didn't have too much of a choice but to do what the Warlady. Comply or get killed. The Halo of the Senshi decided to go with option number one and charged her. Cara laughed and side stepped, holding her cape out to one side. Sam blinked as she charged through. What was so familiar about what she just did?

"Toro! Toro!" said Cara, laughing idiotically.

Sam was now ticked off. Cara was playing it like a bull fight! The green clad Senshi spun around, getting angry. "So, you think that's funny? Well, have I got something funny for YOU!" she said. Sam leapt to the side, making a few complicated looking sword moves. Cara mimicked her. The Warlady STILL was playing games with her. Sam knew she had to end this. What if she was powering up for something huge?  
Suddenly, Sam felt a foreign power seep inside of her. She gasped and she felt her body shimmer and grow stronger from the force. Her eyes widened as she lifted her sword above her head. "THUNDERBOLT CUT!" she cried, leaping into the air and making three slices. A wave of green electric energy bombed down at Cara, striking her hard and down for the count. Cara screamed, then disappeared. 

Sam lightly landed on both feet, curious as to what had happened. 

~

Sara and Vanessa stood on their choice of battlefield. The barren sea floor of Boston Harbor. Apparently, Sara was not the only one who could breath underwater. Vanessa made no move to head to the surface after five minutes of studying each other. That or she could hold her breath for an EXTREMELY long time.

Still, Sara didn't have time to try and wait Vanessa out.

"My poison will destroy you, Senshi girl," said Vanessa, clashing two of her swords together. Sara watched as a red seeped from them, taking over the whole section of ocean water they were in. Sara's heart pained when she realized the fish and sea life around her were dying.

"Time to some of MY magic," said Sara. She held her arms out and concentrated on her armor. The armor glowed and slowly, her armor began to purify the water around them, getting rid of Vanessa's poison and the water pollution already in the water. _Wow, Green Peace would sure like a piece of me on their side, _she thought to herself.

Vanessa growled. "That's right, the Torrent is protected by the water and I can't harm them," she said.

Sara grinned. "But I'll bet that I can kick your butt!" she said, taking her yari and grasping Vanessa's swords. She took them out of the surprised Warlady's hands and tossed them aside. Sara then began to whack at Vanessa, who was doing little more than dodging her.

Next thing Sara knew, she was on her butt, one of Vanessa's swords against her neck. "Prepare to die, Torrent girl," said Vanessa. The murder in her eyes was very evident as the young Senshi knew her time might be limited.

Sara's eyes widened in fear. Then, she got an idea. Concentrating on the water around her, she shoved Vanessa away. The smallest Senshi grabbed her yari and took another fighting stance as she felt a new power surging through her veins. Vanessa stared at her curiously, like something about her pose seemed familiar but she wasn't quite sure what it was.

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" cried Sara. A water spout formed around Vanessa, making the Warlady spin around and around and around as she was lifted to the surface. Sara swam up to follow it. Her head broke the surface as she saw Vanessa get tossed about by the strange attack Sara had unleashed. Finally, she disappeared, and Sara knew she'd won. She just wasn't sure HOW she'd won.

~

Keisha and Daria were locked in combat, each taking strikes one after another. The Warlady was winning. Keisha was doing more blocking than striking and at that could have been doing a better job. 

_I'm getting my butt kicked. Dear God, if I loose I could die, _she thought. Keisha thought of her family and her friends. She thought of Anubis and her destiny. The dark skinned Senshi shook her head, clearing her thoughts. _No, I just can't let them down. I have to try harder! I can't loose! I have to defeat Daria!_

"I won't let you win!" cried Keisha, taking a strike at the Warlady. Daria easily avoided it, laughing hysterically as she took another strike at the young Hardrock. 

"Give up yet?" said Daria, laughing hysterically as the girl before her looked at her from the ground. "Come now, you know it's over, so why bother fighting a futile fight? Surrender now and Trulpa will be quite kind to you."

Keisha narrowed her eyes. Her powers derived from the Earth and its spirits. Her eyes widened. _I need to focus my attacks through the Earth, its spirits, and myself in order to get rid of her. But how do I do THAT!?_

The Senshi looked up at her opponent, who was looking smug. "Time to die," said Daria, sending a blow that could have easily killed her straight towards her. Keisha just barely avoided the blast of energy. Daria cursed as Keisha got back to her feet. "Why don't you just be a good little girl and give in to Trulpa?" 

"Because I am a Ronin Senshi. I will NOT give in to the likes of the Dynasty or any other evil. I will fight it for my entire existence. I will NEVER give up. I will NEVER surrender. AND I WILL DESTROY YOU AND YOU EVIL DYNASTY!" she cried.

"Just try, nigger. Just TRY it."

Keisha was now EXTREMELY ticked off, to say the least. She unleashed a mad series of hits with her staff, getting little or no results with her thrashing. Daria continued to insult her with words that even the cruelest bully would never even DARE to use. Keisha's attacks became more frenzied and unorganized.

Finally, she calmed down._ Focus, Keisha. This is exactly what she WANTS you to be doing. She's throwing all these insults out to let your anger get the best of you_. She closed her eyes and concentrated on how to defeat Daria. The words began to become less and less audible, and suddenly, Keisha found a deep power. _This, this feels almost like what I felt when Sara, Sam and I had that freak accident. _

The young Hardrock of the Senshi lifted her staff above her head. "IRON ROCK CRUSHA!!!" she cried, smacking the staff to the ground after twirling it about her head. Suddenly, huge chunks of rock flew up from the ground, battering Daria into a bent-out-of-shape Warlady. 

Daria looked at Keisha in shock before disappearing, leaving the Senshi confused and alone. How had she done that?


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Six: A Battle Lost

"C'mon Ria, this'll be easy, let's take her down now!" said Rona. Ria nodded, drawing her swords and clashing them up against Anubra's chain. The two Ronin Senshi had been ganging up on Anubra, but it didn't appear to be working very well. The Warlady had years of experience that they didn't have and knew more about battle tactics than they did. 

Anubra continued to avoid them, but she had yet to let out a strong attack. Rona wondered why she hadn't done too much to them yet. She blocked attacks and lashed out with that chain weapon of hers (she had seen it refereed to as a kusari-gama in a book somewhere), but no magic had left her fingertips. Rona's eyes widened as she realized what Anubra was doing.

"Ria! She's powering up an attack! ¡UN UNA MUY GRANDE! ¡NO QUIERO MORIR! ¡NO QUIERO MORIR UNA VIRGIN!*" said Rona, beginning to hit the panic button. The brave archer notched an arrow and shot at the Warlady, sending a barrage of arrows at her. They brought no harm to Anubra. The Warlady began to softly glow.

Ria's eyes widened and she began to slash at the Warlady. By this time a yellow orbe surrounded their enemy, making all of their attempts at attack fruitless. Anubra would not be harmed. 

But for the two Senshi she was fighting, that was a horse of a different color. Anubra let out a shock wave of energy, rendering Wildfire unconscious and Strata close to it. Anubra headed over for the Strata girl to retrieve her. Once she had her, she turned to the Wildfire girl to see the tiger guarding her. "One is better than nothing," she said, teleporting back to Trulpa.

~

Slurp. Slurp.

Ria groaned. "Tiger Lily," she said, batting the tiger away from her face. Ria opened her eyes to find herself back in subarmor. "What happened?" she asked. The leader of the Senshi sat up and looked around. "Where's Rona?" 

There no was sign of the bearer of the Strata of the Senshi. Ria stood up, and immediately regretted it. Her bones and muscles ached. "Anubra must've hit us with one mother of an attack," she said. 

"Ria!"

Ria looked up to see Keisha running up to her. "What happened?!" she asked.

"Anubra kicked our butts and I can't find Rona anywhere," said Ria. "I think . . ." The leader of the Senshi could say no more. But the solemn look on her face told enough; Rona had been captured.

Keisha's eyes took a look of shock. "No, she didn't!"

"She did," said Ria.

"She did what?" The two Senshi turned to see Sara had joined them.

"Anubra took off with Rona. She's a prisoner of the Dynasty!" said Keisha.

"WHAT!?" The angered voice could only belong to Sam, who stood before her friends looking very angry. "Those bit-"

"Sam, swearing won't get Rona back," said Sara. "We've got to get back to Anubis."

"How did you let that happen?" said Keisha. "I took Daria down no sweat with this weird attack."

"Yeah, same here," said Sam. Sara nodded.

"What weird attacks?" asked Ria. "Rona and I used arrow and sword power to no avail."

"It was an energy attack. Iron Rock Crusher," said Keisha.

"Mine was a Super Wave Smasher," said Sara. "Man, Vanessa looked funny once it got a hold of her."

"The Thunderbolt Cut did one whopper of a number on Cara. You guys didn't have anything like that?" asked Sam. Ria shook her head. "Something very weird is going on, even for THIS situation."

"You got that right. Let's report back to Anubis and get the goods."

~

Drip. Drip. Drop. Drip. Drip. Drop.  
Rona sat curled up in the corner of the dungeon cell she found herself in. After waking up in Trulpa's thrown room, she'd been thrown down into the dark stone room. _Great. Two days into the war and already I'm knee deep in more trouble than I've ever accumulated in my whole life! Heh, knowing me, that's pretty darn bad, _the captured Senshi mused. 

_So is she going to wait to kill me or what? Maybe try to get information out of me in some torture chamber? Yeah, WHAT information? The Ronin Senshi are just five teenage girls with absolutely no clue on how the heck we're going to save our world. _

Click. Creak. SLAM!

Rona looked up to see Trulpa had decided to come down and "visit" her. Trulpa was a very tall woman with long, silky yet sickly white hair, red eyes, and a distinctive air of evil about her. She wore a black dress, black heeled boots, and a red belt. "What do YOU want?" snapped Rona.

Trulpa sneered. "We have an appointment, you see," she said. 

The confused Strata watched as the door opened. Two guards rushed in out of no where and grabbed her. "Your escorts," said Trulpa. She began to lead the group down a narrow hallway. Rona knew objecting would distract her from any possible valuable information she might receive. There could be ANYTHING that could help them out.

If she wasn't killed, of course. 

Her "escorts" brought her into a bright red and orange room with a seat in the middle. The seat was before an altar than a strange spirit floating before. "A Nether Spirit," said Rona.

"Correct, young girl. I am Brenamon," she said. "Sit her down!" The two guards holding Rona forced her into the seat and secured her wrists with two metal cuffs attached to the arms of the chair. Rona tested them and found to no avail did they move. That meant, sadly, no magic and no flute. 

"What are you going to do to me?" asked Rona.

"Possess you," said Trulpa. "You'll be an unwilling general in my army."

"No!" said Rona. But by then, she could already hear the call of the approaching Nether Spirits.

~

"Rona was captured?" said Anubis, wide eyed. Sue Lee and Mike looked equally worried.

"Yes," said Ria. "Anubra let out a magical attack and you know we aren't very good at magic yet."

"And was there a set of attacks you never mentioned?" asked Sam.

Anubis looked up, confused. "Set of attacks?"

"If you'd told us about them, then maybe Rona wouldn't have gotten captured," said Sam.

"What attacks?" asked Anubis curiously.

"Keisha, Sara, and Sam let out attacks called Iron Rock Crusher, Super Wave Smasher, and Thunderbolt Cut respectively," said Ria. "They easily defeated Daria, Vanessa, and Cara."

"I don't believe this," said Anubis, suddenly looking confused beyond words. "Those are forbidden attacks."

"Forbidden?!" said Sara. "Then how'd we use them!?"

Anubis continued to stare aimlessly into space. "I don't know, but now that you have access to them, continue to use them. It could help bring Rona back."

Keisha blinked. _Why do I get the feeling he's hiding something from us? Why were they forbidden? Are they more powerful than we're assuming?_

Mike cleared his throat. "From my point of view, it's three aces up our sleeve in a deck of five suits. This could help you guys, don't worry about why it's forbidden."

"Couldn't they accidentally blow up the world?" asked Sue Lee, tugging on Mike's sleeve.

The remaining Senshi exchanged looks. "Let's not think about that," they said in unison.

~

*- Rona, as she panicked, started to speak in Spanish. A rough translation of what she said is: "A REALLY BIG ONE! I DON'T WANNA DIE! I DON'T WANNA DIE A VIRGIN!!"


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Rona, Dark Warlady of Strata

Trulpa smiled, very pleased at the now possessed Senshi of Strata. Rona stood before her, her eyes void of any emotion or feeling. The once snow white spots of her subarmor were now replaced with a dark, ebony black. "Lady Trulpa, what do you wish of me?" said Rona. Her voice was also devoid of emotion, the calm in her voice even chilling the Warladies.

"I'm impressed," said Anubra. "While the three little brats with sure-kills is a problem, this is nice."

"Yeah, she'll kick butt," said Daria.

"But not enough. You all know how easily Torrent, Hardrock, and Halo defeated three of you," said Trulpa. Daria, Vanessa, and Cara lowered their heads. "Which is while she will bring me Halo or Hardrock."

Vanessa blinked. "Why?" she asked.

"So I can possess them as well. She'll simply fly down, grab one, and bring them to me," said Trulpa. "Then we'll have a Senshi who can be possessed AND can use a sure-kill."

Cara laughed. "Ah, that's a good one. If she brings Halo, can I torture her first?! PLEASE?!"

"No, I'm afraid not," said Trulpa. "We need the Senshi she brings back possessed as soon as possible. No waiting time in the dungeon. STRAIGHT to the possession chambers."

"Am I dismissed to partake of my mission?" asked Rona. 

~

Meanwhile, in another part of Trulpa's castle, a prisoner of a different type looked on. _Ronin Senshi, please don't fail. . ._ he thought. The Senshi were the only hope he and his friends had. They had to beat Trulpa. Then they had to help them get out of the Nether Realm.

"Well, well, I see that you've taken a sudden interest in the Senshi, eh?"

The prisoner turned to see Brenamon floating before him. "Go away."

"No, pretty boy, I'm not going to go away," she said. Brenamon floated over, taking a tuft of soft blonde hair between her fingers. "You know that your world's days are numbered."

"Leave me be, Brenamon," he said. "I don't want to talk to you!"

"I know, that's why I'm here. To annoy you," said Brenamon. "But, I need to prepare a few Nether Spirits to possess the new prisoner. I wonder which it will be?"

"New prisoner?" asked the captive. "What do you mean 'new prisoner'?"

"You'll see. Ta-ta!"

~

Day three of the war. The girls still had no plan to rescue Rona. "How oh how are we gonna get her outta that awful place?" asked Keisha.

"I don't know, that's why we're trying to make a plan," said Ria. The girls had gathered in an abandoned movie theatre a good ways away from their HQ. It was dark, but Sam had a small green orbe of light so they could see. 

"Hey, someone left a box of untouched Sour Heads here!" said Sam, picking up the treasured candy.

"Put it down," said Ria. "How long has that been here?"

"Good point," said Sam, putting it back under the seat. "Let's get out of here and go someplace else."

"Why?" asked Keisha.

"Maybe a different environment will inspire us?" said Sam, shrugging. The other girls agreed with this logic and exited the theatre. The four remaining Senshi walked through the streets of Boston, scouting for enemies, when Keisha stopped suddenly. 

"Keisha?" asked Ria.

Keisha held up her hand. "Something's wrong," she said.

"Well, the whole city is basically being help captive in the Dynasty, Rona's a prisoner, and you're just figuring out-" started Sam.

"That's not what I meant! I know that!" snapped Keisha. "I mean I felt a dark presence nearby."

Sara grabbed her dagger. "Ladies, let's get ready for a fight."

Ria gave the signal to move out to a more open area. The girls stood, waiting for the attack. "Keisha, are you sure you sensed something?" asked Sam, looking around their current area.

"Positive," said Keisha. Just as she spoke, they heard a sound from behind. They were under attack! The Senshi quickly retrieved their weapons and began to fight the Tin Cans that had suddenly assaulted them. 

They didn't notice until too late the blue bubble hovering over them.

Keisha dealt the finishing blow to Tin Can number three and saw a strange, blue light. "Rona?" she asked. The bubble began to slowly descend apon them. Keisha narrowed her eyes and gasped. "Oh no!"

"Oh no what?" asked Ria, looking up. "Hey! It's Rona! She got away!"

"Yeah! Go Ro!" said Sara after relieving a solider of its left arm.

"No, something isn't right- RONA!" screamed Keisha as the deep blue Senshi dove in at her, grabbing her up. "What the heck is your problem?!"

Keisha looked into the eyes of her friend and gasped. Rona's violet eyes showed no emotions or feelings, like there wasn't anything there. "You are coming with me."

"I ain't goin' nowhere!" said Keisha, beginning to kick at Rona. Sara, Ria, and Sam watched from the ground.

"What's wrong with her subarmor? It's all, black," said Sara, pointing out the blackened areas of the lower body armor.

"I don't- DEAR GOD! TRULPA'S POSSESSED HER! KEISHA, GET AWAY!" screamed Sam.

"I can't! Help me!" cried Keisha, looking down at the ground in fear. Rona continued to fly higher. "Let me go!"

"Keisha, we'll rescue you both later!" screamed Ria.

"WHAT THE-" started Keisha, starting to get angry with her comrades.

"If you fall, we can't risk trying to catch you!" Sam yelled back, her hands cupped over her mouth. "Hang tight, we'll save you both!"

Keisha didn't seem overly happy with her friends' response to her plea for help but understood. If she DID get away, she'd be one flat Hardrock. _Guys, I'll take your word for it. But don't leave me and Rona to Trulpa's whim._

~

__

"I understand why you let her go," said Anubis once they returned to their HQ. "I went out myself to try and gather information, but I found none. This is serious news."

"Well, how do we get them back to normal?" asked Sam.

"Sara has the power to destroy Nether Spirits. It's up to her to free them, but you two should help," said Anubis. "They will be all right. Trulpa does not need to kill them. Yet. But you should easily be able to free them beforehand."

Sara groaned. "Easier said than done."


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Voice in the Dungeon

"Well, looks like you're going to be spending a LITTLE time in the dungeon, now aren't you?" sneered Trulpa as she stood before Keisha in her small prisoner cell. 

Keisha looked up at her. She'd found out that, indeed, Rona had been possessed by Nether Spirits and that Trulpa had the same plans for her. "Doesn't matter. My friends will free us one way or another, and we'll destroy you!"

Trulpa snorted. "You'll destroy them first. I'm very, very pleased that I have gained yet another advantage from the Great Error." Trulpa smiled smugly to herself, 

_Great Error? _Keisha wondered. "What do you mean?"

"Your Iron Rock Crusher attack will bring the last three and Anubis down for good," she said. "If not, then I have several backup plans to ensnare you little brats," said Trulpa. "But enough on that. Brenamon should be ready soon."

With that, Trulpa left. Keisha was glad she left. She didn't like Trulpa, which considering her situation made sense. She could feel evil dripping from her essence, evil so strong it made her want to hurl. She understood she was a very powerful demon, which is where a lot of the evil came from, but then again, she seemed to have so much more evil than one would think a demon would.

Keisha concentrated, trying to calm her nerves. She was frightened, which she couldn't hide. Suddenly, she felt something that made her feel, safe. Her eyes opened slightly as her psychic senses rubbed up against another presence.

_What is this?_ Keisha wondered. She concentrated _It's another soul!_

Please, I can't help you.

Keisha's eyes widened. _Did it just say it can't help me? _The young Senshi tried to get a closer feel of the other soul. She could feel hurt, pain, and suffering. But below it she saw a good heart. _You're hurt. Let me help-_

No! You can't help me!"  
"Your time is up, Senshi girl."

Keisha broke off with her find and saw Trulpa and a ghostly looking woman floating behind her. The door opened and two guards dashed in from no where to grab the frantic Senshi.

Thinking quickly, she turned back to her find. _Please! Help me get away from her! Please!_

I can't help you! If I help you now you'll be doomed to die!

Who are you!? What are you!?

I can't tell you that, either. I, I'm sorry, I want to help you but I'm forbidden to.

By who, Trulpa? Are you some sort of a sick, Dynasty lackey?!

Hell, no! I hate her as much as you do! Destiny itself forbids it! Please, just break off or else something bad will happen!

No, your soul is hurt, and I can feel a good heart, said Keisha, _I want to help you._

You, you can't. . .

Keisha had been so busy having her "discussion" with whatever spirit she'd somehow made contact with that she didn't realize she'd been brought to wherever it was that Trulpa was going to have her possessed. The guards strapped her into a chair, which Keisha tried fruitlessly to break out of. She shot Trulpa a dirty look.

"Shoot all the dirty looks you want, little girl," said Trulpa.

_If you decide to change you mind about helping me, now's the time to do it, _Keisha thought.

_How many time do I have to tell you? I want desperately to help you. I hate Trulpa. But destiny forbids me to help you! Please try to understand!_

Before Keisha could answer, the chair began to shock her. She cried out in pain, and slightly, she could feel the spirit feel her pain, too. Her eyes clenched shut as the pain wracked through her body, tears trickling down her cheeks. Keisha opened her eyes long enough to see a small posy of Nether Spirits slam into her, completing the process. Keisha struggled to shove them out but soon, she lost all consciousness. 

~

Sara concentrated on her dagger. _This is stupid, _she grumbled miserably. While Ria and Sam were out again- this time with Tiger Lily- she was stuck at the Fleet Center with Mike and Sue Lee, trying to activate her powers as a Nether Spirit slayer. Sam could already heal, and Ria was a leader, but she couldn't slay yet.

Sara finally decided to give it a rest. Sue Lee and Mike were busying themselves with magazines they'd found. How they could possibly be so easy going while an inter-dimensional war was going on was beyond her, but she did realize it was probably good they were keeping out of trouble. 

"You are doing an exceptional job, Sara, Torrent of the Senshi."

Sara looked up and gasped. Before her stood a spirit dressed in the robes of the Ancient. He carried a ghostly replica of the staff Anubis used, long, white hair hanging down his back. A large, brown hat covered his eyes. "The, the Ancient One?" she asked. 

"You have already been granted the powers of a Nether Spirit slayer. You do not need to mediate, only execute these powers when one of your comrades attacks," he said, his voice a ghostly echo. With that, he vanished.

"Weird," said Sue Lee, looking up at where the Ancient had been. 

Sara just dumbly nodded. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" she said. "Well, do I just look for Keisha and Rona or what?"

"No need to look, brat."

Sara looked outside to see Rona waiting for her. Only she was, as she expected, still possessed. "Rona," she said. 

"Come on out and fight, little mouse, or are you too frightened?" said Rona snidely.

Sara felt her temper creep up on her. "I am NOT LITTLE!" she said, charging through the door at her former comrade, knocking her to her feet. Sue Lee rushed to the door to watch as the two Senshi began to wrestle for control.

The two were at a deadlock until Sara let out a strong kick, sending Rona few feet away. The smaller Senshi got to her feet, staring down the other one. "You've now officially ticked me off," she said.

Rona just laughed. "Oh, I'm SO scared!"

"Eat this, Nether Trash!" Sara cried as she whipped her dagger out, pointing at Rona. "NETHER SLAY!"

Suddenly, a rip tide of blue energy shot out from the point of the dagger, swirling around Rona. Rona began to scream in agony as black energies began to seep from her whole body. She fell to her knees, the blackened parts of her subarmor beginning to shimmer as they shattered, revealing the white that proved she wasn't possessed.

Sara rushed over to Rona, who was close to crying hysterics. "Rona!" she cried.

The Senshi of the Winds began to sob in an incoherent mix of Spanish and English that the Hawaiian couldn't even begin to translate. Sara hugged her friend, not noticing as the once dark blue calves of her subarmor faded to an ashen black color. 

"It's okay, Rona, it's okay," said Sara, trying to be as soothing as possible.

"Rona! She's okay!" Sara looked over to see Sam and Ria had returned. Sam had made the comment. "What happened?"

Sara frowned. "She's having a hard time recovering from her possession, but I think she'll be okay with time and patience," she said.

Ria knelt down next to Rona. "You're going to be okay," she said.

"I, I will," said Rona, finally speaking in the preferred language. "Where's Keisha?"

The other three exchanged a few looks. Sara looked into Rona's eyes. "Don't blame yourself for this, but you captured her for Trulpa."

"What!?" said Rona. Sara quickly put her hands on her friend's shoulders. "But, but, but, I-"

"The Nether Spirits did it, not you, Rona," said Sara. "Don't blame yourself. The only thing we can do is to find a way to rescue to Keisha."

Rona tearfully nodded, then stood up. "Let's get her back."


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Free

Once Anubis returned, the others filled Rona in on what had happened during the other three battles with the Warladies and Keisha's capture after moving to a different location to protect Sue Lee and Mike. "So Sara, Sam, and Keisha have access to forbidden attacks?" she asked. 

Anubis nodded. "Well, not really forbidden attacks, just attacks that Ronin Senshi normally don't have."

"You said forbidden earlier," said Sara.

"So I phrased it wrong, no one's perfect," said Anubis. He turned back to Rona. "Did you hear anything useful in Trulpa's palace?"

Rona narrowed her eyes. "When I was waking up, I heard something about a gargoyle, but I have no idea what the heck Trulpa was rambling about."

Anubis blinked. _Could she have been discussing the gargoyle torture chamber? I thought only Talpa had access to that! Maybe it's something else. There's a lot of gargoyle related things in the Dynasty, _thought Anubis. 

"Well?" said Ria. "Anubis?"

"Gargoyle could mean a number of things," he said. "Could be a lamp, could be a weapon, could even be a spy, no way to tell."

Strata of the Senshi sighed. "Well, I guess I couldn't find anything useful. Hey! Wait a second," she said. "Did 'I' say anything else when I captured Keisha?"

Sam narrowed her eyes. "No. Why?"

"I'm willing to bet that Keisha was targeted because of that special little attack of hers. Her possessed would be more dangerous than me possessed. So I can fly, she can kick butt," said Rona.

The monk nodded, agreeing with Rona. "She's right, Trulpa must have targeted Keisha or Sam. She wouldn't have targeted Sara because of her resistance to Nether Spirits," said Anubis.

"So now Trulpa has got a really heavy-duty 'ally'," said Sam. "That doesn't make us feel any better."

Anubis sighed. "Once we free Keisha, we need to get into Trulpa's dynasty. Then we can prevent her from spreading her evil into this world," he said.

"Something that evil. . . there's almost no telling how that will affect the world," said Sara, looking up into the dark sky, almost as if she expected to see a patch of blue or a bird fly by. No such thing came by. "Would there be any hope after that?"

"The Ancient has a few back-up plans, but even some of those are a bit sketchy," he said. "I don't know if I could pull some of them off. But I must try."

"None of you will have a need to try once you have perished."

"I think possessed Senshi have used more corny lines than the Warladies have," said Sara. "Keisha! Come down here and fight like a girl!"

Sam held back a laugh. "THAT sounded messed up."

"Shut up," said Sara before drawing her dagger. Sure enough, the black and orange clad Senshi jumped down. Only, unlike Rona, she was equipped in her full armor. "Yup, she's gonna use the Iron Rock Crusha."

"Great," said Ria. "Now what?" Their possessed friend stared at them idly. She appeared to be up to something, but what?

"I got an idea," said Rona. "I'll get Ria and Anubis up high where it's safe. Sam? You and Keisha duke it out while Sara prepares to get rid of the spirits. We'll be back-up if anything goes wrong."

"Ooo, good plan," said Sam. "But it's all we got. Halo of the Senshi, DAO CHI!"

Sara prepared her attack carefully as Sam finished armoring up. Rona formed a bubble around Ria and Anubis and shot them up to the top of the building. She looked up at them and jumped onto a street light to wait for the battle between Halo and Hardrock to begin. She just had to wait for the right time to intervene.

Sam stood on the balls of her feet, her sword poised infront of her as Keisha took a few swirls of her staff. "Are you ready to die, Halo girl? Trulpa would thoroughly enjoy it if I were to bring back your empty armor."

"At least I know she ain't sick enough to want my carcass, too," snapped Sam. She raised her sword. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You're going to have to, because I want to hurt you," said Keisha. "IRON ROCK CRUSHA!"

Sam's eyes widened. Before the impact hit, she let loose her own attack. "THUNDERBOLT CUT!!!!!"

The two energies smashed into each other, creating a massive explosion, taking a building down with it. Sara's eyes widened. "Well, I think it'll take us two hundred something years on Ria, Sam, and my allowances and Keisha and Rona's jobs to pay for that," she said dryly.

"Buildings repair themselves after the war so the people don't remember anything!" said Anubis from wherever he, Ria, and Rona were waiting.

"Good, cause that would have been a good chunk of change," said Rona. "Who won that bout?"

"Looks like Keisha did from the way Sam's standing," said Sara. "That's it! Torrent of the Senshi, Dao SHIN!" The smallest Senshi was then clad in the Torrent of the Senshi.

"How the heck if she going to take Keisha down?" asked Ria.

"No matter how hard a rock is, water will ultimately erode it away," said Rona. "So she WAS paying attention in science class."

Sara leapt in front of Sam. "Go get somewhere safe and heal up," said Sara. "I got Keisha."

"Fine," said Sam, limping away. "Ow, I'm hurting in places I wasn't sure I had."

Keisha and Sara looked at each other. _Even if she did hurt get hurt, Sam must have gotten something against her, _thought Sara. _All I gotta do now is hurt Keisha just a little bit more._

The dark skinned Senshi grinned. "You're going to die, Torrent brat," she said.

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" Sara let out her attack without hesitation. Forbidden or not, it was useful. Keisha didn't get a change to call up her own attack before the impact hit. Hardrock of the Senshi kneeled on the pavement, her armor faded away. She was breathing hard, her hands crossed over her chest. 

"You will all fall at the hands of Trulpa," said Keisha.

"Not today," said Sara. She let loose the attack that would free Keisha and ran over to help her once it began to take effect. She knelt down next to her friend as she grabbed the sides of her head and began to cry hysterically. 

"They, they had me!" said Keisha, tears clouding her brown eyes. 

Sara placed a hand on her back. "They're gone," she said. "You're back with friends."

"The voice. . . what was the voice!?" said Keisha.

"Voice?" asked Rona. "I didn't hear any voice."

"The voice. . ." said Keisha. "It's hurt. . . I couldn't help it."

Anubis' eyes widened. _What is she talking about, the voice? Is she onto something that I'm unaware of? _The youthful in appearance monk stared at the Senshi of Hardrock. 

"What is she talking about? Keisha, are you all right?" asked Ria.

"I, I don't know," said Keisha, holding back a few more sobs. "This voice was inside my head. . ."

"She must be hallucinating," said Sam.

"Maybe," said Keisha. "But I don't feel any different."

"Let's get her back to the Fleet Center, she needs to lie down," said Rona.


	30. Chapter Thirty

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty: Break In

Keisha slept for a good two hours. During that time, Anubis sat over her, wondering what she'd sensed. He wondered if she'd somehow come in contact with a spirit. Keisha DID have strong psychic abilities, after all. But what had caused her to so strongly reach this one?

"How's she doing?" asked Ria.

Anubis turned up to the young leader. "I think that she came into contact with some sort of a spirit other than a Nether Spirit. I'm guessing the soul of a dead Senshi or someone else on the side of the light," he said.

"What if it was. . . alive?" asked Ria.

"I don't know. Keisha's senses aren't nearly enhanced enough to tell if a spirit she's accidentally come across is another psychic or an actual ghost. If it was a ghost, there's no way to tell how much it spooked her," he said.

"It didn't scare me. It made me feel safe."

Ria blinked. Keisha was slowly getting up. "Safe?"

"Yes. It felt safe, but it went away," said Keisha. "It told me that it couldn't help me and that I couldn't help it."

Anubis cocked an eyebrow. "What on Earth? Sounds a bit odd."

Keisha nodded. "I know. I don't understand it. It's frustrating," she said. "I just. . . I just want to know what it was."

"Maybe it was nothing," said Ria. "Or one of Trulpa's tricks."

"I don't know," said Keisha. "It felt. . . maybe you're right."

Ria sat down. "It'll be okay. Right now we want to concentrate on breaking into the Dynasty to kick Trulpa's hide," said the Senshi of Wildfire.

"Oh?" said Anubis. "So soon?"

"Yup," said Ria. "We want to surprise her."

"That's a good strategy. But play it carefully because it DOES have some dangerous risks," said Anubis. "I'll help you out. Outside."

~

"Now, is this dangerous?" asked Rona.

"Could be," said Anubis. "But the Staff is usually pretty good about this."

"What exactly are you doing?" asked Sara. The Senshi were grouped together and getting ready for Anubis to send them to the Dynasty. He couldn't go with them right away, but he said he'd catch up with them once he got the chance to.

"I'm creating a bridge to the Nether Realm. I'm not sure what it will look like though," he said. Anubis then closed his eyes and slammed the Staff into the ground. The rings of the ancient talisman began to clang wildly, until a bright flash consumed the Senshi. Only Sam didn't need to hide her eyes.

Once the light died down, Rona gasped. "A worm hole!" Before them was a rip in the space-time continuum that lead into a sewer of some sort.

"The Dynasty sewers," said Anubis. "Good luck."

"See you when you catch up," said Rona, being the bold one to step in first. The others followed suit until only Keisha remained. 

"Are you nervous?" asked Mike.

"Yes," said Keisha, "but I am also in wonderment. I'll see you later." With that, the final Senshi stepped into the wormhole and it closed up.

"Will they be okay?" asked Sue Lee.

"I hope so," said Anubis.

~

"Gross," said Sam. The Senshi were trekking through the sewers, and mostly not happy about it. "It stinks down here."

"It's a sewer, what did you expect?" asked Ria. "Let's just keep going. Sara can give us all a bath later."

Keisha's eyes widened. _I can sense it again. Hey! Hey! Why wouldn't you help me!?_

Keisha got no response. "I must have been hallucinating," she said.

"What?" asked Rona.

"The voice I heard, it was a hallucination. I couldn't get a response this time," said Keisha. "But I could still feel something, strong."

"I don't know what to say, Keisha," said Ria. "But we need to keep going-"

"Tin cans!" said Sara. The Senshi reverted to a fighting to a fighting stance and began to battle. Weapons clashed, battle cries rang out, and Tin Cans fell. Sam was balancing hand to hand combat while shooting out healing spells when she felt one of his friends had been hurt. Rona used her flying abilities to cause the mindless soldiers to crash into each other. One jumped out at her, which took her by surprise. Luckily, she got away. Sara, Keisha, and Ria dodged and fought with whatever work best. Sara stabbed with her dagger, Keisha knocked around his her nunchaku, and Ria, who found that while he throwing stars did some damage, it wasn't worth it and reverted to kicks and punches.

Finally, the last one of that wave was down and the girls began to dart down the sewers. 

~

"THEY'VE GOTTEN IN!?" snapped Trulpa. The Dynasty empress was not at all pleased with the news of the Senshi breaking into her fortress. She had several things that they didn't need to see or know about. Things that could cost her the chance to hold the Mortal Realm within her grasp. All of her back-up plans and her extra power sources.   
"Yes, Trulpa, they have infiltrated the Dynasty through the sewers," said Vanessa. Her faithful Dark Warlady of Venom had been the one who'd reported the bad news. "Would you like me to fight them? Send one of the other Warladies? Down them out like rats?"

"No, we need to get the special sorcerers out of here first and foremost. The Law of Dependency doesn't necessarily reply to the Senshi making an assistance," said Trulpa. "If the Senshi were to find out about them then everything could be ruined. It doesn't matter if they defeat me in the upcoming battle. They won't kill me and I'll have the sorcerers as back up."

"They hate you," said Vanessa.

"I know that!" snapped Trulpa. "But I've mastered mind control techniques and I have a few experiments planned."

"Still, do you have any back-up, back-up plans?" asked Vanessa. 

"Of course I do!" said Trulpa. "I'm not stupid! Now, I need to get them out of here."

"Where to?" asked Vanessa.

Trulpa closed her eyes and tapped her finger against her chin. "Get them moved to Magna Wretch, ASAP!" she said. Vanessa nodded and went o fulfill the order.

~

Once the Senshi reached the end of the sewers and found themselves inside Trulpa's stronghold, Sara kept true to her word and rinsed them off. Most of the poo-gas smell was gone and the felt a little cleaner. "The things we do for the Mortal World," said Ria.

"This is the first time we've done anything like that," said Rona. "But we're inside and ready to start kicking but. We are ready?"

"Yeah!" the other Senshi said. "Let's get going!"


	31. Chapter Thirty-One

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-One: Count Down to Showdown

"So, this is Trulpa's castle," said Sara. The five Senshi were in the lower dungeons of Trulpa's castle. It was dark and gloomy, a stench of evil, death, and despair hanging in the air like the smell of a candle store in the mall. The air was damp with mold and probably blood to one extent or another. 

"She needs to speak with an interior decorator as soon as possible," said Sam with a snort.

"This is where Trulpa throws prisoners," said Keisha. "This is where she had me."

"Me, too," said Rona. "We'd best get out of here. I doubt Trulpa will be down here." With that, the Senshi began to briskly make their way deeper in to the complex.

Once they were out of the dungeons, they found themselves in a hallway. The hallway was much more ornate and well-kept than the darkness they'd emerged from. Intricate Oriental furnishings and designs made the hallway colorful. "It's beautiful in here," said Sam, running her hand along the silk wallpapers. "I didn't think evil could be beautiful."

"It's either a deception or she's trying to show off her power," said Ria. "Either one sounds pretty egotistical."

"Does she show off her soldiers, too?" asked Rona. "Cause a bunch of them have come out to play."

~

"So, those Ronin Rodents think they can get the best of my Dynasty?" said Trulpa. She snapped her fingers. 

"Yes, Lady Trulpa?" asked the four Warladies as they appeared in her throne room. 

"Warladies, attack the Senshi. And be sure to use your own sure kills this time," said Trulpa. They nodded and disappeared.

~

After a fairly difficult but winnable battle, the Senshi were on the move again. They were getting anxious to get to the upcoming battle with Lady Trulpa. A rush of adrenaline was pumping through their excited veins. But they were also trying to decide how and what they were going to do about defeating Trulpa.

After a while, the Senshi found themselves outside on some sort of a balcony. "It's too quiet here," said Sam. "Trulpa's got something planned, and I know it's for here."

"QUAKE WITH FEAR!!!"

"What the heck!?" asked Rona. "Anubra's sickle!" The Senshi watched as the sickle they knew belonged to the leader of the Warladies drove itself into the ground. The girls watched in shock as the chain suddenly stopped.

"What the heck was that supposed to be?" asked Sara. Then, suddenly, several bright beams of red light shot out of the ground, entangling the Senshi.

"Ah! No fair!" said Sam. The red beams then solidified into chains, leaving the Senshi in a web of metal. "Cheap shot!"

"Aw, you don't like my trick, Senshi brats?" The Senshi turned their heads to see Anubra laughing at them and their current predicament. "You girls are now in my trap!"

"Sam, get us out of here!" pleaded Rona.

"I'm trying," said Sam, struggling to break the chains. "I, I can't do it."

"Keep trying!" said Keisha, her legs flailing as she tried to keep from hanging herself.

Sam closed her eyes and focused her strength. "RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

SNAP!

The chains broke and the Senshi fell to the floor. "Good going, Sam!" said Sara. "Let's armor up before-"

"SNAKE FANG STRIKE!"  
"HIT THE DECK!" cried Ria as all five Ronin Senshi did as they were told. A whip of swords flew over their heads and hit the opposite wall. Sara's eyes widened as she saw a purple acid eat through the metal. 

"Nice try, Vanessa, but no luck," said Rona.

"BLACK LIGHTENING SLASH!"

"AHHHH!" Suddenly, the girls were caught in a storm of black lightening. Keisha, oddly enough, was the least in pain. 

_Earth. . . rocks don't conduct electricity as well. . . I can get out of this! _Keisha thought to herself. Moving carefully, she fell free from the electricity and- as quietly as she could manage- armored up. The young Hardrock girl then saw who was causing the ruckus. "Yo, Cara, I got a present for you!"

Cara gasped to learn the Hardrock girl had escaped, but before she could move Keisha delivered an Iron Rock Crusher with her name on it. Cara screamed as the blow hit her, causing her own attack to break away. The remaining four Senshi fell to the ground, all breathing hard.

"Guys, armor up!" said Keisha. "You'll heal faster!"

"WEB OF DECEPTION!"

Keisha cried out as the sticky web threw her off balance and to the ground. Pain filled her and she began to cry in pain. She could hear Daria's echoing laugh in the back of her head. She struggled to free herself but found she couldn't. 

_I don't want to die. . ._

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"

"THUNDERBOLT CUT!"

Keisha's eyes widened as she felt the pain go away and Ria and Rona at her side, helping her to her feet. Both were in their larger armors. "Everything. . . hurts. . . ow. . ."

"Rest up, then," said Rona. "Ria and the rest of us will take care of it."

"No, I'll be fine," said Keisha, forcing herself to her feet. "Let's fight it out."

"Suit yourself," said Ria, charging into the heat of the battle. Her swords were raised as she began to take slashes at Anubra, who was fighting more honorably than she had before. Keisha grasped her bearings and went in as well, swinging her staff above her head as she gave a battle cry.

The fight continued. The Senshi and Warladies were at a long standing stale mate until a loud booming sound echoed throughout the Dynasty. All nine in combat looked up and froze. The silence that followed was more than scary. 

Anubra broke the silence when she began to laugh hysterically. "Trulpa is going to play her hand. I doubt you can beat it," she said.

Ria looked up to see the demon woman appear before them. "Oh man, she looks nasty," she said.

"I say she's one UGLY witch," said Sam.

"You do mean the version with a 'b" instead of a 'w', correct?" asked Sara.

"Do not insult your future leader, Ronin Slime!" said Vanessa. "All hail Mistress Trulpa, leader of the Dynasty and soon to be leader of the Mortal Realm!"

"We won't let you win, Trulpa!" said Keisha. "We'll do everything in our power to stop you from taking over the Mortal World!"

"You won't win!" said Rona. "We are the Ronin Senshi! We will fight to the end!"

Trulpa grinned. "Then so be it." She snapped her fingers. The Warladies stood at attention. "I need to borrow your powers, by loyal ladies."

"Yes, Mistress Trulpa," said the Warladies. In a flash, they became balls of energy that joined to Trulpa to form a great weapon of a sword. Trulpa took a few swings and grinned like a madwoman. "Let's fight."


	32. Chapter Thirty-Two

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Battle With Lady Trulpa

"Don't worry Ria, I think that the three of us have it under control, right Sara, Keisha?" said Sam, readying her sword. Sara and Keisha also took position with their own weapons.

"Don't take all the glory for yourselves!" joked Rona. "I want a piece of her, too!"

"Guys, calm down, she must be planning something," said Ria. "She absorbed the Warladies and now had a weapon. What does that mean?"

Sara shrugged. "I dunno, but we gotta kick her butt!"

Keisha's eyes widened. "I don't know, Sara, I think Ria's right. She's got a lot of power," said the young Hardrock.

"Good observation, Hardrock," said Trulpa. "But now, you see, I'm going to defeat you all and take the Mortal World."

"She's not going to defeat us!" said Rona, looking wide eyed. 

"Um, that would be a good thing if she didn't defeat us," said Sam.

Rona shook her head. "No! I figured out what she's planning! Didn't Anubis say our armors and the Dark Warladies armors came from an armor Trulpa used to wear?"

"Yeah- oh, just GREAT," said Keisha. "She wants her armor back."

"Good call, Senshi," said Trulpa. "I do want my armor back."

Ria snorted. "Just TRY and get it from us, Trulpa!"

Trulpa laughed evilly. "Oh, I have a plan, my dearest Senshi," she said. Trulpa thrust the weapon upwards, causing a bolt of red lighting to strike the weapon. "DYNASTY DEATH SLICE!"

"AHHHHHH!" the Senshi cried, scrambling in five different directions.

~

Meanwhile, Anubis had ventured into the Dynasty just in time to see the battle begin. "Uh oh, this is worse than I thought," he said. 

"RARRRRR!!"

Anubis turned to see a squadron of soldiers had discovered him. The former Warlord began to expertly fight them with the Ancient's Staff, stabbing and slicing the possessed armors. He had to destroy these things as fast as possible. Trulpa had gathered more power than he'd originally thought, and they might need his help in this fight.

"GET AWAY!" he cried. But it was no use. Anubis was surrounded. _Now what? I've got to get rid of these things and assist the Senshi before Trulpa kills them or worse!_

That was when Anubis realized the easy way out of it. He raised the Staff above his head and slammed it into the ground, causing the rings to clang wildly. A bright gold light shot out of the staff, defeating the soldiers in one immense blow. 

"That takes care of that," said Anubis. He turned to the ongoing battle between the Senshi and Trulpa. "This looks bad." He concentrated on the staff, trying to figure out how he was going to help the girls. IF he could help them.

_Anubis, the Senshi will prevail over Trulpa. Have faith in their abilities._

Ancient One! thought Anubis.

_The Senshi have the power to defeat Trulpa. Just let them fight. They will do it. It is your duty to train and guide them, not fight for them or alongside them. Yet. Once they defeat Trulpa the dependency cannot happen. The only thing you can do in this fight is give them a lift back to the Mortal Realm._

I understand, Ancient One. I understand.

~

"Where the heck is Anubis and that stupid Staff!?" said Rona, finding that all of their efforts against Trulpa were fruitless. 

"I'm using my secret weapon," said Sam. She raised her sword above her head. "THUNDERBOLT CUT!"

"Good idea!" said Sara. "SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"

"IRON ROCK CRUSHA!" cried Keisha.

All three attacks hit Trulpa in unison. She screamed, but emerged with only a few scorch marks. "Nice try, brats, but no look."

"I wish we had one of those," said Rona. "Wait! Senshi magic!"

"Right!" said Ria. "Let's see what I can do." Ria concentrated, diverting back to subarmor in the process. Her hands were pressed together before her, elbows locked out. Slowly, a ring of fire appeared around her. Ria's eyes opened as she lifted her hands above her head, the fire floating up with them. Ria then tossed the ball of fire at the Dynasty empress, crying out at the same time.

Rona, too, had gone back to subarmor and was slowly playing her flute in a smooth, sweet tune. A light breeze began to pick up, Rona surrounded by a Strata bubble as she lifted up off the ground. Suddenly, the soft wind became a violent rush of air that began to knock the Dynasty empress around.

"They're having more luck than we are," said Sam. "Trulpa must be immune to the attack magic."

"So we have to use elemental magic!" concluded Sara. She closed her eyes and held her arms down. Within a few seconds, columns of water shot up from some unknown water source and surrounded the smallest Senshi. It all then came together in a ball of blue light, which came down to Sara's waiting hands. She let her right arm fly backwards, then let the ball go. It turned into a tidal wave that smashed up against Trulpa.

Keisha stood were her arms raised and her wrists crossed. Her ankles were also crossed as she began her elemental attack. She then thrust her hands forward and a rip tide of ground energy headed straight towards Trulpa. The ground shook from the attack, but it didn't affect the Ronin Senshi in the least. Only Trulpa was hurt.

Sam was finally ready to let loose her attack. With her arms and legs spread, she looked up at the sky. Her eyes squinted as she saw the storm clouds moving in.

"What's she doing?" asked Ria.

"Summoning a lightening storm, I guess," said Rona. 

Sure enough, Rona was right. Bolts of lightening shot across the sky. Sam pointed at Trulpa, crying out. The bolts were then all redirected to Trulpa, jolting her over and over with the electricity that began to surge within her. Sam whooped with excitement as Trulpa fell to her knees.

"We've done it!" said Ria.

"Not yet, little pests," said Trulpa, struggling to her feet. She raised her hands to the air and began to chant. The Senshi froze, unable to move as Trulpa continued her haunting, melodic chant.

"I, can't, move," said Ria.

"None, of, us, can, move. . . you. . . aren't. . . alone. . ." stuttered Keisha. 

Trulpa began to laugh insanely at the sight of her helpless enemies. A small energy was collecting in her hands. 

"She's. . . taking. . . the. . . Warladies. . . magic. . ." said Sara.

"What. . . . now. . . ." said Sam.

"I. . . . . don't. . . . . know. . . . ." said Ria.

"We. . . . . . 're. . . . . . doomed. . . . . ." said Rona.

Trulpa suddenly let the energy go as it began to attack the Senshi mercilessly. All five cried out in agonizing pain. "Face it, brats! I've won!" cried the empress.

Then, suddenly, things turned around as Ria began to glow white.


	33. Chapter Thirty-Three

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Three: The White Armor of the Inferna

"What is this!?" demanded Trulpa as her attack suddenly stopped and the Senshi were able to move again. "Impossible!" The other four Senshi began to glow their respective colors until bubbles of energy surrounded them.

"What's going on!?" asked Sara.

"I don't know!" said Keisha.

"What kind of a Dynasty trick is this!?" asked Sam.

"I don't think this is Trulpa's doing!" said Rona.

Ria cried out as the white around her intensified. Suddenly, her friends became swirling whirls of energy that threw themselves at her. Suddenly, Ria felt an intense yet comforting heat surrounded her. What was happening to her?!

Suddenly, Ria felt her subarmor melt off her body. She instinctively crossed her arms over her breasts and clutched her hands together. But the white still surrounded her. Then, a red, spandex body suit appeared on her form as a new armor began to piece together on her minus a helmet. 

Black boots and gloves found themselves on the appropriate parts of Ria's body, a white chain mail lowering itself onto her torso. A black stripe was across her chest and a blue collar around her neck. A white chain mail skirt with a black and white front piece fastened around her waist. Finally, her Wildfire swords fell into her hands. The white dissipated and Ria struck a heroic pose.

"What is this pathetic toy?!" demanded Trulpa.

"I don't know, but it's gotta be good for something!" said Ria. She crossed her katana blades.

~

"I don't believe this!" said Anubis as he watched from his spectator's place on the sidelines. "That's the White Armor of the Inferna! I thought it was destroyed when Hariel and his lover, Phoenix, perished in the battle with Shogun!" He then laughed lightly. "Then again, the Inferno came back for Ryo, and it didn't get destroyed. Perhaps those white armors have been passed down to the Ronins of Wildfire."

"RARRRRR!!!!!!"

"Oh great, not again!" said Anubis, turning to face yet another wave of Dynasty soldiers. _I've really got to figure out where she gets these things._

~

So far, Ria's battle with her new armor hadn't been very exciting. Her friends had vanished, but she could feel them close by. _It must've taken their powers to form this armor, whatever it is._

Trulpa hadn't done much either. The battle had been basically nothing but a stare down for the past several minutes. Both sides were getting edgy, but were waiting for the other to strike first.

The Dynasty was dead silent.

Finally, Trulpa got frustrated, let out a yell, and charged Ria. Ria casually sidestepped the demon woman, causing her to fall flat on her face. She snickered and considered kicking her opponent. Thanks to the position she'd landed it, her rear was sticking out in the open.

After a short decision, Ria gave Trulpa a good boot. Trulpa screamed as she tumbled forwards in a tangled mess of skirts and hair. Ria didn't bother holding back her hysterical laughter. "It's not funny!" screamed Trulpa.

"Yes it is!" said Ria, crossing her swords again. They began to glow in a warm, red hue. "Prepare to die, Trulpa."

Trulpa got up. "Perhaps you will defeat me, but I won't be dying today. I haven't even used half of my power yet."

"Yeah, well I'll be sending you halfway across the Dynasty if I can help it," said Ria. The swords began to glow even brighter. 

"Those swords are collecting a great amount of energy, but not enough to dispose of me, little girl," said Trulpa. She began to prepare her own attack as well, he sword having mysteriously vanished. 

"I will win this fight!" said Ria. She leapt up and uncrossed her sword, a pillar of flames surrounding her. "INFERNA RAGING FLARE!!!!"

The pillar than headed straight for Trulpa, causing the demon woman to scream bloody murder as her form was incinerated. "YOU HAVEN'T WON YET! I WILL BE BACK!"

Ria just threw her head back and cheered. Unfortunately, she forgot she was still in the pillar of fire. She got the clue once she smelled burning hair. Ria screamed.

~

Once the flames died, Ria knelt on the ground, still in the strange armor. But she was close to tears. The majority of her hair lay as ashes on the ground. The smooth, glassy surface of the floor she was on showed Ria that her hair was now chin-length, blackened tips lining the bottom. "My hair. . ."

"Ria! Ria, are you all right!?"

Ria looked up to see Anubis running over to her, the rings clashing casually together as he did. "My hair. . . Sally is going to kill me." She looked up and smiled. "But at least the Mortal Realm is safe from harm. And least I'm safe. But, where are the others?"

"They'll be fine, just dispel the Inferna," said Anubis.

"Inferna?"

"The armor you're wearing."

"But I'm naked under this."

Anubis blushed. "I'll turn around and pray you end up in subarmor," he said, turning his back to the leader of the Ronin Senshi. 

Ria stood up and crossed her arms, dispelling the armor. For an instant she was naked, but she was soon clothed in her familiar red and white subarmor. The energy that was the Inferna split into four spectral particles of energy. They floated to the ground and slowly emerged as her confused and bedazzled friends. 

"Guys! You're okay!" said Ria.

"What, happened?" asked Keisha. 

"The White Armor of Inferna was formed by the five of you and placed on Ria. She defeated Trulpa!" said Anubis.

"Ria, you did it!" said Sara, hugging their leader. The girls then piled together into a great group hug.

Sam looked over at Anubis. "C'mon, Anubis, join in!"

"Oh, all right!" said Anubis, joining in the group hug.

"We did it!" cried Rona. "We saved the world! Let's go home and celebrate!"

"Orange Julius on me!" said Anubis.

Sara laughed. "Nah, we should do something, special."

"Special?" asked Ria. "Like what?"

"I dunno, but we saved the world! We have to do something!" said Sara.

Keisha folded her hands. "Let's go out to eat somewhere fancy!"

"No, let's go somewhere fun, like the Franklin Park Zoo!" said Rona.

"No way! We're going to Six Flags New England!" said Sam.

Ria just laughed. "It's good too know things will start to cool down. For a while, at least."

"Well said," remarked Anubis. "Well put."


	34. Chapter Thirty-Four

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Four: Back to Boston

Sue Lee and Mike watched the spectacle that lit up the darkened Boston sky. "Mike, I'm scared!" said Sue Lee. "Where are they? Are they gonna be okay?"

"Don't worry, the Senshi will come through. I hope," he said. The, he squinted. Mike wasn't sure what he was looking at, but as it got closer, it began to dawn on him what it was he was seeing. "Look!"

Sue Lee's eyes lit up as she saw a flash of white light up the sky. "What was that?!"

"I don't know, but I hope it's a good sign," said Mike. "We have to wait and see, I guess."

Several minutes past. Nothing happened. The city was in an eerie calm. Nothing moved. The two lone civilians stood in wonderment, watching the sky. Then, the clouds began to move, and the sun shone down once more on the city of Boston.

"The sun!" said Sue Lee. "They did it! The Ronin Senshi did it!"

"Whoo-HOO!" cried Mike. "But where are the girls?"

"I don't know- look! All the buildings that were destroyed are back to normal!" said Sue Lee. Mike looked around gasped to see every building that the Dynasty soldiers had demolished were standing once again, as if nothing had disturbed them. "The world is healing the city!"

"Amazing," said Mike. "This is incredible! Sue Lee, we're watching something that no one is going to remember but us!"

"Look! The gold bubble! The Senshi are okay!" said the little girl. Mike looked up and smiled to see the Ronin Senshi and Anubis slowly coming back down to Earth in a golden bubble, the Staff glowing brightly in the center. Ria was barely standing, hanging onto Sam for support. Sue Lee began to babble on excitedly, getting the Senshi to laugh at her cute and adorable antics.

"We're okay, Sue Lee," said Rona.

"But Trulpa is!" said Sara. "We got her good!"

"No, she's still out there," said Ria. "We beat her, and it'll take her a while to bounce back, but we were far from killing her."

The Senshi, Mike, and Sue Lee froze. "What?" asked Keisha.

"She's right. Trulpa is still out there, but for now, she won't be bothering us. The Warladies probably helped save her from death," said Anubis. He smiled. "But as Sara suggested, let's celebrate."

"I still say Six Flags," said Sam.

"We'll figure out what later, let's give our families the good word," said Sara.

~

After the Senshi's families returned to Boston, the Senshi decided on Sam's idea. However, they needed to wait for the warm weather to come, so they instead had a big dinner. Once the warm weather arrived, they set out for their celebration. After a day of fun, food, and rides, the Senshi returned late that Saturday night. Rona flew them to the roof of the Prudential Building, just so that they could sit, reflect, and talk.

The moon hung high in the air as the five Ronin Senshi sat on the roof of the Prudential building. "The sky, it's so. . . beautiful," said Rona.

"To think we came close to never seeing anything like this ever again. It's hard to believe, isn't it?" said Sam.

"Yeah, but it's still here," said Sara. "What would have happened if we didn't win?"

"I don't know," said Keisha. "Do we want to know that?"

"I think that this world would deteriorate into what the Nether Realm is," said Rona. "But why would she want something so. . . dead?"

Keisha shrugged. "She's a demon. Demons like weird things. Look at Marilyn Manson. He's evil and he likes WEIRD stuff."

"I think he's on drugs," said Sara. "Or his parents dropped him on his head numerous times."

"His? I thought Marilyn Manson was a blonde actress from the fifties and sixties that Elton John originally wrote 'Candle in the Wind' for," said Sam.

"That's Marilyn Monroe," said Ria. "Manson is the sick one. Monroe is the cool one."

"I always got the names mixed up," said Sam. She sighed. "You know, do you guys get this feeling that Anubis has been hiding something?"

"A little, why?" asked Sara. 

"WHAT is he hiding?" asked Rona. "Is it something important, or did he just break a vase of something?"

"I think it's more than a George Washington and the cherry tree kind of thing," said Keisha. "I mean, think about it. He openly admitted to being over four hundred years old. That's a clue he's been involved with the Ancient and the Dynasty for a while. Second, he has the Staff. HOW did he get it, and HOW did the Ancient die?"

"Think about. Ancient One. The Ancient One was a guy. The Ancient One was old. Put the two together: Old guy. Probably bought the farm from his old age," said Sam.

"If he was able to survive for centuries, how would time suddenly affect him in this day in age?" asked Sara. "Something must have killed him."

"Maybe," said Sam. "All I know is that we have time off for a few months until Trulpa comes crawling back for more. Until then we should work with our magic and our attack magic. That way if she comes back with more help we'll be ready."

Ria nodded. "Sam has a point. We still need to keep in top condition. We need to commit ourselves harder than we did before. We don't know how long it'll take for Trulpa to bounce back, but we need to be ready for her."

"Right. Now we'd better get back before out parents kill us for being out late," said Rona.

~

That night, the Ronin Senshi slept peacefully. But there was still no telling when, or how, or even if Trulpa would attack. When she attacked again, there wasn't any way the Senshi could know just how they'd need to prepare. The best they could do was power up and get stronger. 

Only Anubis remained up and about that night. 

"Well, Ancient, they've won their first war. Am I allowed to tell them the rest of the story?" he asked the night sky as she sat on the roof of Mike's house. "Or must I wait longer?"

A soft breeze was his answer. "When will I be allowed to tell the Senshi of the full origin of the armors? When will they know the legend of Talpa? Of the Ronin Warriors? Of my mistake?" he asked into the evening. The stars, the moon, nothing gave him an answer. 

_Soon, Anubis. . . soon, they must know. . ._

"Ancient One. . ." said Anubis. "How soon?"

_Wait. . . watch. . . soon. . ._

The remainder of the night, Anubis was answered by silence. 


	35. Epilogue

Ronin Senshi Legends

By Dixxy

Epilogue

Unbeknownst to the Senshi, the Dynasty was stirring even as Trulpa made her recovery. . .

~

(WARNING! ONLY READ IF YOU HAVE ALREADY READ CONSEQUENCES OF CAPTURE! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ CONSEQUENCES OF CAPTURE!!! YES I MEAN IT!!!! THIS ALSO CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT STORIES!)

~

Brenamon laughed idiotically as her plans neared completion. More of the vials and powders she'd need to complete Trulpa's great experiment were appearing with each new spell. Normally she'd have a few of her best Nether Spirits help, but Trulpa insisted she do everything herself. The Kaze Project was too important to screw up.

"Hey, I hear that high fat content can screw up an enchantment before you can say 'Ding-dongs', Brendy!"

Brenamon clutched her fists. "Hardrock, shove it." She turned her head to see the three bound and helpless Ronin Warriors behind her. Kento of the Hardrock had been the ignorant one to make that comment. 

"Make him!" said Cye of the Torrent. "Why should we listen to you?"

"Because Trulpa could decide to nix the project and either kill you or make you her personal love slaves," said Brenamon.

Kento made a disgusted gagging sound. "Ick, gross, no way!" he said. 

"Just what is this 'project' going to do?" asked Sage of the Halo. Even from his position on the floor- kneeling, wrists tied to a chain that lead to the ceiling, and nude with only a small white cloth covering his privates- he still held an air of dignity about him. Definitely the leader of the small trio of Ronins.

"That is none of your business," said Brenamon. 

"Um, whatever you're planning, it's probably going to involve us so it sort of IS our business," said Cye. "What are you going to do?"

Brenamon snorted. "You'll see."

"Not if we bust out first!" said Kento. Brenamon only needed to lift a medium sized feather to shut him up. Since she disliked working in the same room as the Ronins were being held, she needed an effective way to shut them up. She'd quickly learned that all three had ticklish armpits and torsos. While it was primitive, it did work. It threw their breathing off balance and after a while could short wind them enough to the point of suffocation. 

Trulpa then walked in, still in a casual dress since her recovery was still a ways away. "How is everything going, Brenamon?"

"Well, I've figured out how to shut them up for a little while," said Brenamon.

"Not with them, with the experiment!" said Trulpa.

"Good, very good," said Brenamon. "Why do I need to work in the same room as these three. . . teenagers?"

"Bet she's so old she doesn't remember being a teenager," grumbled Kento.

"What was that, Hardrock?" The Nether Spirit once again reached for the torture device.

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought," said Brenamon. "It's been an interesting few weeks with them, Trulpa."

"I can understand," said Trulpa. "It has been an interesting. . . how many months has it been? I caught you in August and it's now towards the end of March, so that's. . . seven months. Seems like so much longer, doesn't it?"

Sage glared at his captor. "If Ryo and Rowen don't find out what happen and chew you up then I hope the Ronin Senshi kill you," he said.

"Oh, tough words, Halo," said Trulpa, waltzing over and stroking his chin. Sage tried to pull away, but she opted to press her nails to his neck. "Should I puncture your throat, instead?" She let him go and turned back to Brenamon.

"It will still be a few weeks until I have everything," said the Nether Priestess. "Please be patient, my mistress."

"Butt kisser," said Kento.

"Would you just shut up!?" said Brenamon.

"Ignore him, he's an incompetent human," said Trulpa. "Besides, he and his friends will be. . . different, after my experiment."

Cye's eyes widened. "What are you going to do?"

"It's a surprise," said Trulpa playfully.

"Why do I get the feeling we aren't going to like it?" said Sage miserably.


End file.
